THEESTATEOFALINASZAPOCZNIKOW/PIOTRSTANISLAWSKI/ADAGP,PARIS,COURTESYZACHETANATIONALGALLERYOFART,WARSAW,ANDAGENCJAMEDIUMSP.ZO.O./BUNGA:BRIANFORRESTCoolsingel|c||e|ocmElmgreen and Dragset||co| |c, .3, .o:.Last year, Elmgreen and Dragsettransformed Rotterdams former sub-marine wharf (an industrial cavernrivaling Tate Moderns Turbine Hall)into an apocalyptic vision of urbandecay blurring the line between artand real life. || |e.e| cc |c|e |cc, c||,, their project in the publicsquare of the Coolsingel, continuesto target social conventions andbehavior. Installed in front of CityHall and other bastions of official-dom, the sculpture consists of a care-fully designed display case contain-ing a polished stainless steel mega-phone. Every day at noon, a manopens the case, takes out the mega-phone, and bellows, Its never toolate to say sorry. Perhaps a power-less gesture akin to the |cue||e||o:|o|e with which the duo firstachieved notoriety, this stagedactivist gesture offers at least thehope that someone will step up andhighjack the proceedings, turningthe faux soapbox into a genuineSpeakers Corner.Web site <www.sculptureinternationalrotterdam.nl>Dag Hammarskjld Plaza|eu 'c||Rachel Owens||co| |c, ,:, .o:.Given its locationManhattanshistoric Gateway to the UNOwenss |n.e|e|c|e tcmc|||cn |c|t|c|e cant help but stage a protest.Composed of disassembled partsfrom two replica military Hummerswelded together into a monumental,formless crash of a composition,the sculpture captures the violentenergies that fuel humanityspathological need for strife. But thisself- contained pile of rubble alludesto more than one type of discord.Covered with metallic icy-whitepaint, it also evokes a stranded ice-berg. The haunting whale songsemanating from its speakers providea different beat for the drums ofwar, raising a universal cry of envi-ronmental distress barely temperedby optimism.Web site <www.nyc.gov/parks>Hammer Museum|c /ne|eAlina Szapocznikow||co| /||| .), .o:.Carlos Bunga||co| /||| .., .o:.Szapocznikow began her career inthe postwar period as a traditionalfigurative sculptor, but she turnedto radical experimentation in the1960s, pursuing a new language toexpress changed conditions. Herreconception of sculpture has leftbehind a legacy of provocativeobjectsat once sexualized, visceral,humorous, and politicalthat situneasily at the intersection ofSurrealism, Nouveau Ralisme, andPop Art. Tinted polyester resin castsof lips and breasts transformed intolamps and ashtrays, spongy poly-urethane forms embedded withcasts of bellies or live grass, and resinsculptures that incorporate foundphotographs remain as biting andoriginal today as when they weremade. This exhibition featuresextensive archival materials, as wellas more than 100 works, includingdrawings and photographs, thatintroduce a unique vision to a wideraudience.In Bungas architecturally scaledinstallations, mass-produced materi-als such as cardboard, packing tape,and house paint coalesce in impro-vised structures that recall tempo-itineraryAbove: Elmgreen and Dragset, ItsNever Too Late to Say Sorry. Topright: Rachel Owens, InveterateComposition for Clare. Right: AlinaSzapocznikow, Tumors personified.Bottom right: Carlos Bunga, instal-lation view of Hammer Project.Previous Page | Contents | Zoom in | Zoom out | Front Cover | Search Issue | Next Pagesculpture qqM MqqM MqMQmags THE WORLDS NEWSSTANDPrevious Page | Contents | Zoom in | Zoom out | Front Cover | Search Issue | Next Pagesculpture qqM MqqM MqMQmags THE WORLDS NEWSSTAND_____________________Sculpture April 2012 17rary shelters or life-size models. Withtheir cheap materials and rapid con-struction values, these works givethe lie to the illusion of permanencethat propels human undertaking.Everything is subject to decay anddestruction, from buildings andmemorials to ideologies and sharedvaluesas underscored by hisrecent series of sand and cardboardmodels of imaginary monuments(shown at the XIV Carrara Biennalelast year). Bungas Hammer Projectfeatures a new work made on site,as well as a selection of drawings,paintings, sculptures, and videos.Tel: 310.443.7000Web site<www.hammer.ucla.edu>Hayward Gallery|cnocnJeremy Deller||co| |c, :,, .o:.Deller believes that theres enoughstuff in the world. Just as he rejectsobjects (unless theyre repurposedwith a redeeming social function),preferring to explore ideas throughcollaborative endeavors, he alsoresists the whole mystique of theartist. Inevitably some critics ques-tion whether he is an artist at all, butleaving that pointless debate aside,there is no denying that his theaterof therapy, as one 6oc|o|cn readercalls it, makes people thinkoftenabout things that theyd rather avoid.This mid-career retrospective collectsa grab bag of free-ranging works thathave helped to rewrite the rules ofart. From |e 3c|||e c| 0||ec.ea restaging of the 1984 showdownbetween police and striking miners,with the participation of those verysame Yorkshire policemen and min-ersto social action parades andthe public discussions spawned by ||| H|c| || | tcn.e|c||cn /|co|||ca cross-country tour of the U.S.with an Iraqi man, a U.S. solider,and a car blown up by a BaghdadbombDeller demonstrates thatpolitically engaged art can benuanced, open- ended, and far frompreachy. The show also features anew, get-under-the-skin, 3-D film ofbats rising from their Texas cave (afollow-up to his London bat houseproject competition) and a uniquesection called My Failures, a galleryof never-realized ideasmany ofthem brave and thought-provoking,such as a proposed statue of DavidKelly appearing to jump from theFourth Plinth.Tel: + 44 (0) 20 7960 4200Web site<www.southbankcentre.co.uk>Hirshhorn Museum andSculpture GardenHc||n|cn, |tSuprasensorial: Experiments inLight, Color and Space||co| |c, :,, .o:.Suprasensorialthe term comesfrom Hlio Oiticicarewritesthe history of the Light and Spacemovement, recognizing the pivotalrole played by Latin Americanartists. A decade before Light andSpace emerged in late-60sCalifornia, Lucio Fontana, Julio LeParc, Carlos Cruz-Diez, Jess RafaelSoto, and Oiticica (in collaborationwith Neville DAlmeida) were creat-ing environments of light and colorthat challenged traditional notionsof art as static experience. Morethan just stunning perceptual inves-tigations, their large-scale, multime-dia works fused formal and socialconcerns, bringing the work of artdown from its Olympian heightsand into the physical world of theviewer. In the five rarely seen instal-lations featured here, participationis open to all, requiring no specialknowledgejust the ordinary abil-ity to see, think, feel, and respondin the face of transformative opticaleffects that lead to experiencesbeyond the aesthetic.Tel: 202.633.1000Web site<http://hirshhorn.si.edu>Kunsthaus Graz6|c, /o|||cMichael Kienzer||co| |c, o, .o:.Kienzer attempts to transform anddisrupt acquired viewing habits.Vaguely familiar but altered beyondeasy recognition, his sculptures placeviewers in unusual circumstancesthat upend everyday knowledge andreplace it with a strange comic logic.This show revolves around alarge-scale work that covers the spacewith traces of possible trajectories,Top left: Jeremy Deller, The Battle ofOrgreave. Left: Michael Kienzer, Hal-tung Vol. 8. Above: Jess RafaelSoto, Blue Penetrable, from Supra-sensorial.DELLER:MARTINJENKINSON,

ARC EVIC :COURTESYKUNSTMUSEUMLIECHTENSTEIN/CAI:COURTESYCAISTUDIO/CAMPANA:SEBASTIANOLUCIANO,COURTESYFONDAZIONEMAXXIimaginary routes followed by an out-of-control line or ball. Adapted to fitthis new scenario, works from thelast 10 years display a degree of rel-ativity unusual in objects. Miniaturethen large, elusive then concrete,sculptural reality becomes mutableand directly subject to the presenceof the observer.Tel: + 43 316/8017 9200Web site <www.museum-joanneum.at/de/kunsthaus>Kunstmuseum Liechtenstein/coo, ||e:||en|e|nBojan arcevic||co| |c, o, .o:.arcevics installations and sculpturesquestion the capability of art to con-tribute anything essential to contem-porary Western society. Alternatingbetween political engagement andaesthetic retrenchment, he tries outa variety of approaches, forms, andsizes. Whether minimally spare orravishingly lush, miniature or mas-sive, his work creates spaces ofatmospheric density, on the cuspbetween fullness and emptiness,materiality and dissolution, allusionand precision. But even the lightestand most ethereal of these creationscomes with an existential edge: ar-cevic is also the creator of a wilder-ness survival guide written in a Borat-accented phonetic English and thepresenter of a report on Balkan-E.U.geopolitical relations masqueradingas an exhibition catalogue. Thisshow features 15 pieces from thelast four years, including /| ||een|,whose nine pointsfrom Are weliving in the most conformist phasein modern history? to Why is it thatnowadays any possibility of socialprotest is co-opted and absorbed?add up to a virulent critique of apassive and discredited culture.Tel: + 423 235 03 00Web site <www.kunstmuseum.li>Mathaf: Arab Museum ofModern Art|c|c, c|c|Cai Guo-Qiang||co| |c, .o, .o:.Saraab, the title of Cais first soloshow in the Middle East, meansmirage in Arabic. Inspired by thelongstanding ties between Chinaand the Arab world (dating back tothe ancient maritime Silk Road), thisexhibition of more than 50 worksexplores the seafaring culture of theGulf and the Islamic history of Caishometown of Quanzhou. More thanan acknowledgement of theephemeral and illusory effects thatcharacterize some of his best-knownworks, the title also alludes to thedifficulties of cultural, temporal, andgeographic translation, a seeminglyunobtainable goal in this fracturedworld. Sixteen new commissionsinclude |cme:cm|n, a winding paththrough 60 rocks taken from Quan-zhou and carved with Arabic inscrip-tions; gunpowder drawings fusingmaritime routes with Islamic botani-cal motifs; and ||c||e, an 18-meter-long porcelain and gunpowdermural. Part historical and part per-sonal pilgrimage, Saraab tracesnew paths through the complex webof conceptual and material ties thatbind two equally great, but radicallydivergent traditions.Tel: + 974.4402.8855Web site <www.mathaf.org.qa>MAXXI|cmeRe-Cycle: Strategies of Architecture,City, and Planet||co| /||| .), .o:.This exhibition takes the environ-mental and economic benefits ofrecycling as a given, shifting focus toits catalytic potency as a generatorof creative innovation. Rome is astrangely perfect host city for such ashow: Italian architects and designers(unlike their counterparts in change-obsessed cultures) can rarely buildfrom scratch and have little choicebut to retool and reshape a protected(and often resented) architecturallegacyrecycled materials and sitesare much more than a niche practicehere. With a range of realized andunrealized projects from around theworld, from early Frank Gehry andVenturi Scott Brown efforts throughthe High Line by James Corner andDiller Scofidio + Renfro, ElisabettaTerragnis pedestrian passage at theTop left: Bojan arcevic, The Breath-Taker is the Breath-Taker (Film C).Left: Cai Guo-Qiang, Fragile (detail ofwork in progress). Above: Fernandoand Humberto Campana, Maloca,from Re-Cycle.Previous Page | Contents | Zoom in | Zoom out | Front Cover | Search Issue | Next Pagesculpture qqM MqqM MqMQmags THE WORLDS NEWSSTANDPrevious Page | Contents | Zoom in | Zoom out | Front Cover | Search Issue | Next Pagesculpture qqM MqqM MqMQmags THE WORLDS NEWSSTAND______________________Sculpture April 2012 19RAUMLABORBERLIN:INVENTORIDIMONDI,COURTESYFONDAZIONEMAXXI/HUNDLEY:JOSHUAWHITE,

KIKISMITH,COURTESYTHEPACEGALLERYMuseo Storico del Trentino, MiniwizsTaipei EcoARK pavilion, and the other-worldly soundscape realized byPierpaolo Perra and Alberto AntiocoLoche at an abandoned quarry inSardinia, Re-Cycle demonstrates theendless potential offered by the aban-doned, the decaying, and the out-dated. Two site-specific interventionsby recycling masters Fernando andHumberto Campana and raumlabor-berlin transform leftovers, debris,and recovered materials into sculp-tural constructions that point theway to new syntheses of art anddesign, architecture, and landscape.Tel: + 39 (0) 6 39967350Web site<www.fondazionemaxxi.it>Nasher Sculpture Center|c||cElliott Hundley||co| /||| .., .o:.Hundley draws on classical mythol-ogy, art history, and current eventsto create epic, theatrical environ-ments. Beginning with photoshootsof live actors, he transfers key dra-matic moments and imagery totwo- and three-dimensional assem-blages, intricately composed of paint,photographs, and organic andfound materials (ranging from bam-boo, goat hooves, and pine conesto pins, magnifying lenses, and goldleaf). Abstracted distillations ofemotion and action, his freestand-ing compositions take center stagein a fully imagined fictive worldthat reflects and magnifies enduringhuman dilemmas and conflicts.Here, he brings contemporary lifeto Euripedess |e 3c::|ce, a sagaof familial betrayal and divinevengeance, fraught with ecstaticpleasure, violence, and remorse.Tel: 214.242.5100Web site<www.nashersculpturecenter.org>Neuberger Museum of Art|o|:|ce, |eu 'c||Kiki Smith||co| |c, o, .o:.Best known for her depictions of thehuman formin anatomical frag-ments as well as full figuresSmithhas explored a broad range of sub-ject matter, from religion, folklore,and mythology to natural science,art history, and feminism. Whetherrealized as room-sized installationsor miniatures, her meditations onthe human condition display a mas-tery of materials and their expres-sive potential: bronze, beeswax, hair,and papier mch become alter-nately intimate, visceral, poignant,or fragile invocations of the physi-cal, philosophical, and social issuesof our times. Visionary Sugar fea-tures new multimedia work, includ-ing gilded sculptures and reliefs,drawings, and tapestries thatexpansively engage the naturalworld, the spirit, and the cosmos,offering a singular vision of anearthly paradise.Tel: 914.251.6100Web site <www.neuberger.org>Reykjavik Art Museum|e,|c.||Santiago Sierra||co| /||| :,, .o:.Sierras radical and poetic statementsfocus on economic and power rela-tions, especially repetitive routinesand the exchange value of labor.Though critics accuse him of abusingmisery, his socially engaged worksshed a blinding light on acceptednorms of inequality and entitle-ment. He has disassembled a truckpiece by piece only to reassembleit in a gallery, invited visitors toHannovers Kestner Gesellschaft tore- enact a Hitler- era work programand spread 400 tons of mud, paidprostitutes with heroin in exchangefor having lines tattooed on theirTop left: raumlaborberlin, OfficinaRoma, from Re-Cycle. Center:Elliott Hundley, swarming over.Bottom: Santiago Sierra, NO.Right: Kiki Smith, Harmonies II.Previous Page | Contents | Zoom in | Zoom out | Front Cover | Search Issue | Next Pagesculpture qqM MqqM MqMQmags THE WORLDS NEWSSTANDPrevious Page | Contents | Zoom in | Zoom out | Front Cover | Search Issue | Next Pagesculpture qqM MqqM MqMQmags THE WORLDS NEWSSTANDitineraryCOURTESYSUYAMASPACE,SEATTLE,WAbacks while sitting in a line, andhired laborers to push enormouscement blocks in Sisyphean futilityand sit in cardboard boxes duringstifling heat. This show presents thefirst complete showing of his filmsand video documentation, as wellas the latest incarnation of his |0global tour project. The monumen-tal sculptural denialjust say noturned anti- establishmenthasa habit of showing up in the mostpolitically embarrassing locations,rejecting complacency while issuingan uncompromising fuck you tohegemonic power structures.Tel: + 354 590 1200Web site <www.artmuseum.is>Suyama Spaceec|||eRick Araluce and Steve Peters||co| /||| :,, .o:.A visual and sonic tour de force, ||||n pays homage to the func-tional bones of building systems. LikeRogers and Pianos Centre Pompi-dou, this collaborative installationmakes the invisible visible, freeinginfrastructure from its shadowyconfines; but here the focus is onartistry not function. An elaboratenetwork of cast-iron plumbing pipestakes center stage, emerging fromthe recesses of floor, walls, and ceil-ing in a surprisingly compellingreminder of the care that craftsmenonce lavished on mundane, hiddendetails (as opposed to PVC andgoop). But these apparent relics aremore than artifacts; in fact, theyare fakesmeticulously craftedtrompe loeil facsimiles crafted fromwood, plastic, foam, and paint.Fascinated by the evocative beautyof old construction, defunct tech-nology, and disappearing rituals oflife, Araluce painstakingly conjuresthe past, increasingly incorporatingsound. Here, Peters provides anevocative acoustic atmosphere withfiltered sounds swooshing throughthe pipes in a chorus of abstractechoes.Tel: 206.256.0809Web site<www.suyamapetersondeguchi.com/art>Rick Araluce and Steve Peters,Uprising.Previous Page | Contents | Zoom in | Zoom out | Front Cover | Search Issue | Next Pagesculpture qqM MqqM MqMQmags THE WORLDS NEWSSTANDPrevious Page | Contents | Zoom in | Zoom out | Front Cover | Search Issue | Next Pagesculpture qqM MqqM MqMQmags THE WORLDS NEWSSTAND__________________Previous Page | Contents | Zoom in | Zoom out | Front Cover | Search Issue | Next Pagesculpture qqM MqqM MqMQmags THE WORLDS NEWSSTANDPrevious Page | Contents | Zoom in | Zoom out | Front Cover | Search Issue | Next Pagesculpture qqM MqqM MqMQmags THE WORLDS NEWSSTAND_____________0Avtu WtsMAnPlatanus bibliotechalisWest Hollywood, CAWhen officials from the City of West Holly-wood approached David Wiseman todesign a permanent installation for a newlibrary, he noticed that the architects hadcreated relief designs for the ceilings andwalls but left the staircaseconspicuously empty. Itwas a perfect blank canvas to begin exploring variousideas that referenced the architecture but also had[their] own distinct narrative.Taking its name from the Latin for sycamore of the library, Platanus bibliotechalisclimbs the atrium-like space of the stair, its branches sprawling across the skylight andappearing to penetrate the walls. The idea of the ghosts of ancient indigenous speciesemerging and disappearing through the walls seemed to fit the spirit of the space,Wiseman explains. The ghostly white sycamore tree serves as a reminder of Los AngelesCountys long-lost natural landscape. At the same time, it provides a link betweenthe library and the surrounding West Hollywood Park. In fact, Wiseman used bark chipsfrom nearby sycamores to stamp the porcelain that he later fired and used for the trunkof his sculpture.Perhaps the most intriguing aspect of Platanus bibliotechalis lies in its approachto materials. Very rarely does a sculptor create a permanent installation using porce-lain, whose fragility denies longevity. Wiseman says that the dichotomy betweenpermanence and longevity plays an important conceptual role throughout the work,playing out through the delicacy of the leaf clusters, lyrical branches, and seed podsin contrast to massive limbs and trunk, the contrast in scale from minute to massive,the contrast of concrete presence and ephemeral gestures. All this results in an ethe-real, almost otherworldly, vision that introduces a ghost of nature into the built envi-ronment.knuAtt 8ustkTopographSan FranciscoOne of five commissioned projects installed in the San Francisco International Airportsnewly remodeled Terminal 2 last spring, Kendall Busters Topograph consists of twoconversant forms hanging from the ceiling and flanking a bridge-like passage abovethe departures lobby. True to their name, the forms create a kind of landscape throughwhich travelers pass while walking across the bridge. Buster was particularly interestedin having viewers walk between fragments of a kind of ephemeral landscapea frag-mented topography map.Buster considered the viewers experience from all vantage points while also bearingin mind the hustle and bustle of the airport. My first thoughts were about a form thatwould participate in what I saw as rapidly and sequentially changing positions of viewerto object, she explains. As one moves in relation to the work, whether looking fromabove into the sculpture or from below, the planes seem to pivot. As the viewer moves,the forms change, suggesting clouds dispersing or shifting landscapes.Busters signature semi-transparent scrims stretched over steel tubing create formsthat operate like an apparition, allowing light to seep through and complementing thearchitecture of the space. I have always liked the notion that fragments of the wallor ceiling simply peeled away and transformed into the sculpture, she remarks. I wasinterested in responding to what was a beautifully open, light-filled space.Buster has a rare ability to create organic fusions of oppositesin the case of Topograph,of the built and natural environments. She notes that the installation can be seen as land-scape and architecture, a topographical map and a built environment. In the same vein,she sets up other oppositions by making bold gestures with light and seemingly ephemeralforms and pairing geometrically defined elements with the dynamic nature of the overallforms. Whether walking under or between its forms, hurried travelers are sure to slowdown while passing through Topographs constantly fluctuating landscape.22 Sculpture 31.3commissions commissionsDavid Wiseman, Platanus biblio-techalis, 2011. Plaster, bronze, andporcelain, dimensions variable.MARKHANAUER,COURTESYR20THCENTURYPrevious Page | Contents | Zoom in | Zoom out | Front Cover | Search Issue | Next Pagesculpture qqM MqqM MqMQmags THE WORLDS NEWSSTANDPrevious Page | Contents | Zoom in | Zoom out | Front Cover | Search Issue | Next Pagesculpture qqM MqqM MqMQmags THE WORLDS NEWSSTANDluuwtkA 0ookztcBreathing CloudExeter, U.K.Ludwika Ogorzelec has been developingher Space Crystallization series for over20 years, creating site-specific, temporary,indoor and outdoor installations all overthe world. Taking the form of woven netsor webs, these projects represent a shat-tering of space into smaller components,crystals whose purpose is to achieve anew aesthetic and psychological state thatacts on the conscious and subconsciousmind of the observer.Last October, Ogorzelec presented a newincarnation of the space crystallizations atExeter Castle as part of the exhibitionBefore the CrashArt and Science Col-lide. Breathing Cloud stretched a large,suspended net of woven cellophane stringsacross the castle courtyard, just above theheads of visitors. Like her previous spacecrystallizations, this work attempted to rede-fine the very space that it inhabited, trans-porting viewers away from everyday lifeand into a mysterious world above them.Ogorzelec has always been taken with thenotion of showing the invisible in res-ponse to what she calls the subjectiveworld of human creation. She seeks to com-bine this intellectual world of the humanmind with the natural, scientific, or objec-tive world: I want my sculpture to be likea passing phenomenon springing out of theworld of biology, machines, and instru-ments. By aestheticizing the convergenceof balance and tension, filled and unfilledspace, truth and absurdity, her sculpturesaim to stimulate human emotions whileinstilling a sense of wonder. As she noted inan interview with Italian art critic CamillaBoemio, Science, any investigation of thenatural world, teaches humility. Ogorzelecstrives to pass along humility throughher work, ultimately, and most importantly,reaching those who enter her world.Elena GoukassianSculpture April 2012 23BUSTER:BRUCEDAMONTE,COURTESYSANFRANCISCOARTSCOMMISSION/OGORZELEC:COURTESYTHEARTISTAbove: Kendall Buster, Topograph, 2011. Powder-coated steel tubing and greenhouse shade cloth, 2elements, 24 x 24 x 18 ft. and 24 x 24 x 14 ft. Below: Ludwika Ogorzelec, Breathing Cloud, 2011. Mixedmedia, dimensions variable.Juries are convened each month to select works for Commissions. Information on recently completed commissions, along with high-resolutiondigital images (300 dpi at 4 x 5 in. minimum), should be sent to: Commissions, Sculpture, 1633 Connecticut Avenue NW, 4th Floor, Washington,DC 20009. E-mail <elena@sculpture.org>.Previous Page | Contents | Zoom in | Zoom out | Front Cover | Search Issue | Next Pagesculpture qqM MqqM MqMQmags THE WORLDS NEWSSTANDPrevious Page | Contents | Zoom in | Zoom out | Front Cover | Search Issue | Next Pagesculpture qqM MqqM MqMQmags THE WORLDS NEWSSTAND___________COURTESYTHEARTISTANDSALAMATINAGALLERYPrevious Page | Contents | Zoom in | Zoom out | Front Cover | Search Issue | Next Pagesculpture qqM MqqM MqMQmags THE WORLDS NEWSSTANDPrevious Page | Contents | Zoom in | Zoom out | Front Cover | Search Issue | Next Pagesculpture qqM MqqM MqMQmags THE WORLDS NEWSSTANDThe exhibition Related Forms acted as a mini-retrospective for Nina Levy, displayingsculptures and photographs from 1999 to 2011. Her controversial figurative works, dis-played to great advantage in the long, open space of Salamatina Gallery (unexpectedlyset in a former Gap store in an upscale shopping mall in Manhasset, New York), causeda stir among shoppers on their way to David Yurman or Prada. Levy has said of her work,Ideally you want to make a piece that unravels over time and has multiple readings. Ithink my starting point has always been about trying to play both sidesto make some-thing beautiful and compellingbut that also has a discomforting subtext.The works in Related Forms were all beautiful and compelling, and amply discom-forting. Since the birth of her first son, Archer, in 2003, Levy has taken the dichotomy ofparenthood as her subject: [A baby] is both an extremely irrational, energetic, and uncon-trollable person and a lovely, celebrated child. And parents are both charmed and terrifiedat suddenly becoming wholly responsible for someone other than themselves. Levy haschosen to deal with this dichotomy by using images of headless adults. In Husband andSon (2006), she has sculpted her husband, Peter, standing easily, but without a head,while Archer sits serenely unconcerned on his shoulders. In Portrait of my Son (2010),Levy sculpted herself holding Ansel. She too is headless, but she carries Ansel, who isfully supported by an ergonomic carrying sling.As the children have grown, the parents have been granted headscovered by tiny T-shirts. The little sleeves poke up like mismatched ears, and the overall effect is initiallycomical. The levity fades rapidly, though, as somber features come into view under thesculpted knit fabrics, and it becomes clear that the figures are not only blind and deafbut also in danger of suffocation. Shirt Heads (2009) come most often only as heads,but occasionally they have complete bodies, as in Shirt (2008), which portrays Peterseated and cowled by a tiny T-shirt.Levys newest body of work is a photographic series of her sons interacting with largesculpted resin body parts. Boy with Fist (2011), Boy with Body (2011), and Boy with Arms(2011) juxtapose small and fragile human bodies with oversize arms, hands, feet, andSculpture April 2012 25COURTESYTHEARTISTANDSALAMATINAGALLERYBY JAN RILEYOpposite: Husband and Son, 2006. Polyester resinand oil paint, 76.5 x 17 x 15 in. This page: ShirtHeads, 2009. Polyester and automotive paint,2 elements, approximately 12 x 11 x 10 in. each.NINA LEVYPrevious Page | Contents | Zoom in | Zoom out | Front Cover | Search Issue | Next Pagesculpture qqM MqqM MqMQmags THE WORLDS NEWSSTANDPrevious Page | Contents | Zoom in | Zoom out | Front Cover | Search Issue | Next Pagesculpture qqM MqqM MqMQmags THE WORLDS NEWSSTANDheads. These pieces continue an earlier photographic series (19992004) in which Levy used herself as the model, altering her bodywith the addition of sculpted prosthetic parts. She sees this earlierseries as a way of investigating self-image. What happens to herimage when she adds huge prosthetic lips opened in a fake smile?How does the viewer make sense of the image? How do we makesense of ourselves using only a mirror?The impetus behind the new photographic pieces came fromobserving her sons as they emulated characters from superherocartoons, donning articles of clothing (capes, hats) and actingout fantasies of aggression. Levy says that when they posed forthe photographs with the prosthetics, they were completely dis-interested in both the objects and the process. Physical imagesof powerhuge arms and handshad little impact on them:They didnt seem to wonder where their adult body parts were,and they didnt seem to yearn for body parts that were differentfrom the ones they had. She finds it curious that her sons under-stand adult musculature as a metaphor, and not as somethingto attain: They dont feel disempowered because they dont haveadult physical power. Levy knows that these photographs areher interpretation of what her sons are thinking about: Theyhave an entire internal world that I have no access to, and nomemory of, since I have never been a little boy. When I askedhow her sons reacted to the full-sized, freestanding sculptures of26 Sculpture 31.3Left: Portrait of My Son (view from back), 2010. Aquaresin and oil paint,63 x 22 x 18 in. Above: Shirt, 2008. Ultracal and oil paint, 35 x 37 x 33 in.COURTESYTHEARTISTANDSALAMATINAGALLERYPrevious Page | Contents | Zoom in | Zoom out | Front Cover | Search Issue | Next Pagesculpture qqM MqqM MqMQmags THE WORLDS NEWSSTANDPrevious Page | Contents | Zoom in | Zoom out | Front Cover | Search Issue | Next Pagesculpture qqM MqqM MqMQmags THE WORLDS NEWSSTANDherself and her husband, she told me that Ansel wondered where Moms headwas but wasnt concerned beyond simple curiosity and that Archer told herhe has a head so he isnt concerned that she and Peter dont.While Levys works are laden with content, they all begin as visual images,opportunities to explore formal sculptural concerns. The headless image ofPeter carrying Archer on his shoulders began when she saw them from theback, Peters head disappeared, obscured completely by Archers body. Workingfrom this starting point, Levy realized that she needed to solve the problemof how to create Peters body without a head. What to do with the shoulders?Should he have a neck? Such formal issues consume her, but she is also awarethat any time an artist works figuratively, the content drives the boat, whichis frustrating and galling in equal parts. For the headless image of herselfholding Ansel, Levy factored in emotional issues: Parenthood forces parentsout of the center of their lives. Parents become a backdrop, or a pedestal,supporting the lives they engendered. In her self-portrait, she transformedherself into a plinth, something that came into exis-tence to hold Ansel and winks out of existence whenhe no longer needs to be held.Levys work is not only realisticit is unflinchingand relentless, bringing the hard facts of parenthoodhome, as implacable as the fact that death comes to allforms of life. What lifts these images from total despairis the beauty of their modeling and the luxurious sen-suality of their forms. Joy and wonder can also befound in these works. They were made by hand, andthe skill and knowledge it took to create them offera cause for celebration all on their own.Jan Riley is a writer and curator living in New Yorkand a frequent contributor to Sculpture.Sculpture April 2012 27Left: Boy with Body, 2011. Archival digital C-print, 24 x 18 in. Right: Eater, 200708. Archival digital C-print, 12 x 9 in.COURTESYTHEARTISTANDSALAMATINAGALLERYPrevious Page | Contents | Zoom in | Zoom out | Front Cover | Search Issue | Next Pagesculpture qqM MqqM MqMQmags THE WORLDS NEWSSTANDPrevious Page | Contents | Zoom in | Zoom out | Front Cover | Search Issue | Next Pagesculpture qqM MqqM MqMQmags THE WORLDS NEWSSTANDPursuing Figurationin the 21st CenturyBY JONATHAN GOODMANPrevious Page | Contents | Zoom in | Zoom out | Front Cover | Search Issue | Next Pagesculpture qqM MqqM MqMQmags THE WORLDS NEWSSTANDPrevious Page | Contents | Zoom in | Zoom out | Front Cover | Search Issue | Next Pagesculpture qqM MqqM MqMQmags THE WORLDS NEWSSTANDInstallation of work in the group show En,EnEn?, 2010. Exhibition at Fat Art, Beijing.Previous Page | Contents | Zoom in | Zoom out | Front Cover | Search Issue | Next Pagesculpture qqM MqqM MqMQmags THE WORLDS NEWSSTANDPrevious Page | Contents | Zoom in | Zoom out | Front Cover | Search Issue | Next Pagesculpture qqM MqqM MqMQmags THE WORLDS NEWSSTANDDespite the presence of an avant-garde sincethe 1980s, figurative art remains importantin China. This is not to say that Chineseculture rejects abstraction; instead, itspreference for realist art is based on cen-turies of traditional painting focused on thelandscape, which many scholars regard asits highest achievement. Artists such as XuBing, Gu Wenda, and Cai Guo-Qiang whohave made their way to the West clearlydont fit into the figurative paradigm; theyare essentially installation and land artistswith a marked conceptual bent, whosefame and success seem linked to a partic-ular generation, one that came of age in1980s Beijing. Many of todays youngerartists, on the other hand, have returnedto the figure, and the Beijing sculptor LiWei is indicative of her generation.Contemporary Chinese interest in figura-tive art depends on more than tradition.For some, it is a way of representing thesuffering of the peasantas, for example,in the famous sculptural group portrayingthe rent collection courtyard where alandowner demands money from the poor(completed in 1965 in Sichuan province,the work was reprised by artisans underthe guidance of Cai for the 1999 VeniceBiennale). The sensibility stems from thepolitical drive behind Socialist Realism, inwhich the worker is glorified as heroic inhis ability to deliver the materials and goodsnecessary to Chinas well-being. So politi-cized an orientation, based on formal aca-demic skills, is now harder to find, althoughthe interest in the human body remains.Indeed, the training of young students indrawing, painting, and sculpture still stemsfrom the Western studio practice of render-ing the model, with the exception of classesteaching traditional Chinese painting.Li Wei, whose technical command offigurative sculpture is always sound andoften inspired, has some sharp words aboutwhether art can be intrinsically Chinese.Speaking of the idea that art with Chineseelements must necessarily be Chinese art,she says, This idea is stupid, but, even so,many people believe it nowadays. Shegoes on to say: The impact of Western artstarted a long time ago, and many goodChinese academic artists have been influ-enced by Western culture, which is normal.I think that spirit itself can represent peo-ple perfectly. Her return to spiritual termsshe says that the process of discoverytoward truth is the process of spiritualgrowthenables her to universalize theaesthetic impulse. As a result, she can seeher figurative training at Beijings CentralAcademy of Fine Arts as an exercise gearedtoward an objective representation of thehuman formregardless of culture. Hersculpture, which ranges from dogs in cagesto subtle busts of women reconfigured invarious installation groupings, from nakedhospital patients to everyday heroes, ispredicated on the idea that people all overthe world share an interest in realism: weinevitably see ourselves when viewing thehuman figure. Part of Li Weis attraction asan artist lies in her willingness to addressthe figure in no uncertain termsand ona level that does not limit itself to China,though the portraits are of Chinese people.Li Weis commitment to representationalart follows her understanding that the pathof humanity accommodates a basic hopefor the futureeven if it is accompaniedby an anger at injustice or political repres-sion. Her understanding of society and cul-ture is made more complexbut also morerelevantby her concern for gender issuesand themes of freedom. She brings a sharpeye to the conventions that propel Chinesemores and sees the vulnerabilities of herculture in a critical lighthence her seriesof caged dogs, which addresses the treat-ment of animals but may be extended alle-gorically to express deeper concerns aboutChinas one-party government. One mustbe careful not to overinterpret and naivelypoliticize imagery that, at least on the sur-face, looks perfectly innocent, yet, in ane-mail, Li Wei had the following to say ofher generation: We were born during theend of the 1970s and the beginning of the80s, the so- called good times. But pri-vately, in my thoughts, the best of timeshas been the worst of times. Now Chinaseems to be openwe can play, enjoy, andso on. However, in the meantime, isntit horrible? When people enjoy common30 Sculpture 31.3Trap, 200809. Painted fiberglass, 90 x 32 x 80 cm.Previous Page | Contents | Zoom in | Zoom out | Front Cover | Search Issue | Next Pagesculpture qqM MqqM MqMQmags THE WORLDS NEWSSTANDPrevious Page | Contents | Zoom in | Zoom out | Front Cover | Search Issue | Next Pagesculpture qqM MqqM MqMQmags THE WORLDS NEWSSTANDentertainment, who is able to see the truthunder layers of fog?The truth to which she refers implicitlycritiques the empty materialism that hasaccompanied the easy affluence of her agegroup. Because she was surrounded byluxury and dissipation, she fell into adeep despair. Her generation is not onlytrapped by government repression, it is alsoweakened by dissolute living. The allegoryhere is elusive, perhaps in part because LiWei cannot speak out the way she wouldlike. Her criticism, however, is not only ofpopular culture, but also of herself: I wantto be a sincere artisteven if my honestexpression would be misunderstood. But[my dog sculptures] told a vague story. Ididnt define my position; I just put scenestogether. I described rather than definedbecause I have no right to define. I am sur-rounded by a noisy and disorderly world,and I know very little about it.Perhaps the language is a bit unclearLi Wei wrote to me in Englishbut her frus-tration and desire to expose herself to, butalso remain free of, certain kinds of expe-rience indicate that she, like many artistsand intellectuals, is repelled by material-ism and conventional culture. Clearly, sherefuses to explicitly criticize her government,whose harsh measures against dissentersare well known. But the suppressed truthof the dog sculptures may have greateraccuracy than a simple description of theirpresentationdespite Li Weis assertionthat she is only describing. It would benaive and even destructive to see her asshirking her duty by refusing to openly criti-cize the statea stance that democracycan sustain but not a monolithic govern-ment. Indeed, even writing as much wouldconstitute a risky act in China. Li Wei is notjust addressing the state; she loves animalsand clearly points out mistreatment in hersculptures. Still, Trap (as this project is titled)incorporates graffiti-strewn walls, and wallsare the traditional site of dissident writings.The social message is subtle but present.Maybe the best way to approach thisproject is to see Li Weis art as allegory,albeit an allegory whose narrative is ambig-uous or mute. The possible readings aremany, but they have to fit the work with-out extrapolating from it in facile fashion.The caged dogs express not only Li Weislove of animals, but also her distress atSculpture April 2012 31Installation of work in the group show TheOther, the Same, 2010.Auditory Hallucination I, 2008. Painted fiberglass,82 x 56 x 93 cm.Previous Page | Contents | Zoom in | Zoom out | Front Cover | Search Issue | Next Pagesculpture qqM MqqM MqMQmags THE WORLDS NEWSSTANDPrevious Page | Contents | Zoom in | Zoom out | Front Cover | Search Issue | Next Pagesculpture qqM MqqM MqMQmags THE WORLDS NEWSSTANDcontemporary Chinese culture, as well as animplicit critique of Chinas politics. Thoughshe says that she detests politics, it remainspart of her storyeven if she is forced tospeak in veiled terms. But this is only partof her work. One has the sense that Li Weiis attempting to speak to a higher reality, inher portraits especially, which are exquisiterenderings of both spirit and personality inpainted fiberglass. The kind of intelligenceapplied to her busts of women producesa subtle interaction between viewer andsculpture. Of particular interest are thetitles, which invest the portraits with ameaning that the sculptures do not imme-diately communicate. In works such asGossip, After Lying, and Persecution Mania,the realist style so central to Li Weis pro-duction takes on a psychological specificitythat the busts only hint at as art. PerhapsLi Wei is interested in creating a disconnectbetween the realism of her sculptural styleand the psychological suggestion of hertitles. She has written that the titles comeafter the portraits are finished, each onereflecting her own psychic state more thanthat of the model.Li Weis achievement is not always easyto follow, in large part because Western artseeks new expression and new form asproofs of creativity, while Chinese artistsare not so quick to give up tradition. Real-ism remains strong in China because artiststhere have not given up on a shared human-ity, which persists despite the troublingrule of an inflexible government. At leastfor me, it somehow makes sense that theworlds most populous nation would findsolace in the persistence of realismpeopleremain the center of artistic attention.Perhaps Li Weis reluctance to attemptabstract sculpture stems from her beliefthat the human condition is best repre-sented by its own imagerya humanface for a human art practice. While herhumanism is not classical in either a Chi-nese or Western sense, it incorporatesclassicism as a way of fending off the dis-temper of repugnant social processes. Herportraits, while clearly of Chinese people,extend far beyond a particular ethnicity.Working from her imagination as well asphotographs, Li Wei merges her sensibilitywith the real.The portraits are haunting, larger-than-life treatments of women whose integrityis powerfully emotional. Persecution Mania(2007) shows a pensive woman glancingdownward; it is clear that she is day-dreaming a bitfor what reason, we dontknow. Her pale face is intensely realistic,as is her hair. Given the close attention todetail, we recognize a process whereby theparticulars of individual features maintaina dignity of their own devising. In otherwords, the humanity presented by Li Weiexists in reality, rather than as an imagi-native construction. It is important tonote that the models themselves possessthe dignity that we see in their sculpturallikenesses, whose realism reveals vulnera-bility and, often, melancholy. PersecutionMania may indicate the psychic reality ofthe woman we see, but this informationdoes not heavily influence our response toher. The model in After Lying (2007) also32 Sculpture 31.3Installation of work in the group show Its NotSculpture, 2010. Exhibition at the Linda Gallery,Beijing.Installation view of The Hollow Men, 2009.Exhibition at the Hanmo Art Gallery, Beijing.Previous Page | Contents | Zoom in | Zoom out | Front Cover | Search Issue | Next Pagesculpture qqM MqqM MqMQmags THE WORLDS NEWSSTANDPrevious Page | Contents | Zoom in | Zoom out | Front Cover | Search Issue | Next Pagesculpture qqM MqqM MqMQmags THE WORLDS NEWSSTANDshows a face of unusual emotional com-plexity; the young woman seems to besuppressing a grin, and she stares resolutelyback at the viewer, perhaps after lying.The complexity arising from these enig-matic expressions is at odds with the cate-gorizing effect of the titles. But this intri-cacy is not a weakness; instead, it pointsout the fact that Li Wei pictures real peoplewith real sets of problems. The lyricism ofthese finely modeled and painted sculp-tures results in a broad appeal, while thespecificity of psychological condition showsus that they are distinct individuals, whichsupports a universal, as opposed to a lim-ited, interpretation. Auditory Hallucina-tion I (2008) presents someone wholooks troubled; the womans mournful gazerises above the viewer, who feels com-pelled to empathize. Li Wei is particularlygood at rendering the eyes, which com-municate so much in her posed portraits.In this case, we also see the figures upperbody, which ends at the middle of theupper arms. At first glance, we assumethat the person is indeed suffering from amental disorderwhy else would Li Weititle the sculpture in this wayand oursympathy is extended to someone whosecondition requires kindness. In general,the faces we meet in Li Weis sculptureexercise our good will; there is so muchvulnerability in her portraits. Part of theiropenness comes from their own energies,and part of the fragility comes from Li Weiherself.A poetic reading of art often suggestsan awareness of death: the moment ofattention in regard to beauty is intensifiedby our recognition, whether conscious ornot, that our lives are limited in time. Weknow that Li Wei understands the subtlebut compelling relation between death andbeauty because she incorporates a cer-tain melancholy into her work, expressedas a caged dog or a woman in distress. Itis wrong to overemphasize the emotionalsusceptibility of her subjectsthat wouldbe sentiment, feeling for its own sakebut nonetheless we see in her finely pre-sented figuration a genuine understand-ing of human fragility. Betrayed Dignity(2009) depicts a reserved, doll-like figure,who returns the viewers gaze and pre-sents her bare breasts in a matter-of-factfashion.Nudity in these works doesnt feel likesexualization; instead, it contributes tothe poignancy of the image. We do notknow how this person has been betrayed,but the idea of betrayal adds to our curios-ity. We are inevitably hooked because LiWei is so adept at constructing the pres-ence of her models. Her technical skill isjust about perfect, modulating the fineemotions of her figures without becomingsuch a tour de force that viewers attendto the technical details alone.Time will tell how Li Wei plans to pro-ceed. While her sculptural practice hasbeen limited to womenin part because,as she told me, women offer a finer senseof expression than menshe is now turn-ing her attention to men. She also con-tinues to portray animals.There seems to be little danger that shewill become academic in her pursuits; hersensibility is far too developed to engagein mere description. Yet this may be diffi-cult to see, in large part because the expe-rience of the sculptures is so refined: thesubtleties of Li Weis art demand commit-ted viewers. Gossip (2009), for instance,offers us a young woman whose equanim-ity suggests enjoyment at being the sub-ject of other peoples words. Her mute gazetells us everythingand nothing at all.This combination of reticence and expres-siveness lies at the center of Li Weisremarkable projects, which reify the worldin order to comment on its diversity. Hersignature ability, the presentation ofquiet feeling, looks as contemporary asanything we now see.Jonathan Goodman is a writer living inNew York and a frequent contributor toSculpture.Sculpture April 2012 33Gossip, 2009. Painted fiberglass, 56 x 46 x 83 cm.Previous Page | Contents | Zoom in | Zoom out | Front Cover | Search Issue | Next Pagesculpture qqM MqqM MqMQmags THE WORLDS NEWSSTANDPrevious Page | Contents | Zoom in | Zoom out | Front Cover | Search Issue | Next Pagesculpture qqM MqqM MqMQmags THE WORLDS NEWSSTANDCommanding the east window of RobertCherrys hillside studio, which he shareswith his wife, painter Seraphine Pick, is theair traffic control tower of the WellingtonAirport. Beyond, on the far horizon, onemay glimpse a stony suburban seashorewhere the artist and his young son Josephonce beach- combed flotsamforlorn,sometimes unidentifiable, mostly plastic,odds and endswhich later encrusteda small army of slouching clay stelae. Theungainly tabletop totems that populatedCherrys 2006 exhibition Ive Let You Downand Ive Let Myself Down were the firstof his works that Id seen and the begin-ning of my keen interest in his eccentricand engaging sculptural practice.BrilliantRubbishBY ROGER BOYCEROBERTCHERRYCOURTESY{SUITE}GALLERY,WELLINGTON,NEWZEALANDA Conversation withPrevious Page | Contents | Zoom in | Zoom out | Front Cover | Search Issue | Next Pagesculpture qqM MqqM MqMQmags THE WORLDS NEWSSTANDPrevious Page | Contents | Zoom in | Zoom out | Front Cover | Search Issue | Next Pagesculpture qqM MqqM MqMQmags THE WORLDS NEWSSTANDRoger Boyce: I heard that you recently went on a roadtrip across the United States, returning to New Zealandwith a suitcase full of fake deli window-display food,ersatz salamis and other bogus meats. Youve pressedthose finds into service as component parts for newpieces, which recently appeared in your Wellingtonshow Sow seeds of kindness to reap a crop of friends.Whats up with the fake food and the dopey aphoristicshow titles?Robert Cherry: Well, thats a charming bit of art-worldchatter, but the real story is that we went to the U.S.in 2008 and to Europe last year, including Berlin.Neither Seraphine nor I had been to Berlin. Theres alot of art to look at. It starts to affect you in ways, justlike watching too many episodes of The Sopranos inone sitting. For respite we rode bikes all over EastBerlin late at night. Wed roll past butcher shops witharrays of salamis hanging in illuminated windowsvery common of course, but by then everything hadstarted to look like art. That got me to thinking aboutmaking meat mobiles. When I got home, I ordered somefake meat on-linesalamis and strings of sausages.They came mail order from the States, and hell, theyeven threw in a free chop.I like them. They look heavy but, since theyre madeof lightweight plastic, they turn and float in the slightestbreeze. You can spot a segmented string of sausagesthrough the hole of a round salami as the mobile spins.Nice muted colors, too.RB: Now, about the titles?RC: I found Sow seeds of kindness on one of those cheesy affirmation wallplaques. I like the sentiment. Try a little kindness, overlook the blindness. Imean, I dont think Ill be on my deathbed regretting that I didnt spendmore time in the studio. More likely Ill think that I should have spent moretime with friends and loved ones. Really, its nothing more than a nonsensetitle for a show of nonsense worksa little less defeatist than my previousexhibition titles, such as Ive Let You Down and Ive Let Myself Down orWhens it all going to Stop? The titles are more about the process of makingart than the artworks themselves.RB: Youve just trotted out the term mobile to describe some of the worksin your last show. You do realize that as soon as you do that youve let avery big dog into the room, namely Alexander Calder. Calder invented themobile and created what, for the most part, were lyrical, abstract, three-dimensional statements. Your mobiles feature identifiable (arguably figura-tive) components.RC: You cant make a mobile without it referring to Calder, cant present areadymade without Duchamp, cant use a big black brush without noddingto Franz Kline or Rolf Harris. All those guys have taken a big slice of the pie.Im moving crumbs around at the bottom of the pan. It was simply seeingthe hanging salamis that made me think of mobiles. My mobiles do featureidentifiable objects, namely salamis, but I was hoping they could also be seenas something lyrically abstract if you didnt look too harda ready-madeobject forced out of formal context by its otherwise unlikely lyric potential.RB: For reasons not altogether clear to me, Marcel Broodthaers and DieterRoth come to mind when I think of your work. Why is that?RC: I work differently than artists who have been to art school. I wish I hadgone, but thats another story. As a result, I dont think that my practiceis as consciously weighted with what has come before. I am not as acutelySculpture April 2012 35LEFT:COURTESY{SUITE}GALLERY,WELLINGTON,NEWZEALAND/RIGHT:COURTESYYOUNGBLEAKLEYCOLLECTION,WELLINGTON,NEWZEALANDOpposite: Evil vs Good, 2011. Mixed media, 100 x 55 x 8 cm.Above: Weary Sinners, 2009. Modeling clay, glass, and foundobjects, 30 x 25 x 25 cm. Right: False Confession, 2009. Foundobjects and spray paint, 20 x 8 x 6 cm.Previous Page | Contents | Zoom in | Zoom out | Front Cover | Search Issue | Next Pagesculpture qqM MqqM MqMQmags THE WORLDS NEWSSTANDPrevious Page | Contents | Zoom in | Zoom out | Front Cover | Search Issue | Next Pagesculpture qqM MqqM MqMQmags THE WORLDS NEWSSTANDaware of references to other artistsasreadily conscious of visual sampling fromor dialogue with my predecessors. I lookat the world more than I do the art world.I read fictionrarely do I read about art. Ilook at the pictures, though.Roth, of course, has used sausages in hiswork, hes German after all. They both usefood. I think that both Broodthaers andRoth use humor in their work althoughtheyre altogether heavier than I am. Theirhumor is darker by a ridiculously long chalk.Roth goes from one thing to anotherone avant-garde idea to the nextonly to state, at the end of the process, that it is mean-ingless, garbage, and shit. I do Roth one better; I start out thinking, at the beginningof my process, that my ideas are rubbish. My thinking process goes something like this:rubbish, quite clever, brilliant, nothing special, rubbish.RB: My summoning of Roth has more to do with his material and intellectual restless-ness than his occasional employment of sausages. Youve demonstrated little allegiance toany particular type of material or conceptual position. Your latest exhibition alone has adauntingly democratic array of found materials. An abbreviated list includes a corn-strawbroom, Chianti bottle, fly swatter, gorse thorns, pickled onions, and bongo drum.RC: It was a bit of a mix. Those objects are mainly from two rack works. For example,I started Surgeons Drunken Hand with a kitchen rack and plastic spoon and went on tofill the remaining hooks (leaving one empty) with categorically unrelated objects suchas the Chianti bottle, plastic chain, and fly swatter. I tried a few different combinationsuntil I got just the right balance of color and form. Color and form, how quaintly oldfashioned, eh? The second piece, Paralysed, was constructed around a tool-hangingrack. That time, I started with a broom, then found some old used wooden tool handles(screwdriver, chisel, and axe) and attached them to incongruous and unrelated objectssuch as carwash sponges and salamis.For the bongo drum, I positioned what turned out to be a sonic insect repellant onthe stretched-skin top. The plastic insecticide thingy had two recessed circles, like eyes.36 Sculpture 31.3LEFT:COURTESY{SUITE}GALLERY,WELLINGTON,NEWZEALANDLeft: Paralysed, 2011. Mixed media, 130 x 60 x 8 cm. Above: Surgeons Drunken Hand, 2010. Mixedmedia, installation view.Previous Page | Contents | Zoom in | Zoom out | Front Cover | Search Issue | Next Pagesculpture qqM MqqM MqMQmags THE WORLDS NEWSSTANDPrevious Page | Contents | Zoom in | Zoom out | Front Cover | Search Issue | Next Pagesculpture qqM MqqM MqMQmags THE WORLDS NEWSSTANDThe combination of the two objects conjured up an owl. I called it, surpris-ingly enough, Owl.RB: I find it as economical as Picassos bicycle-part Head of a Bull, but funnier.RC: And yes, I have made heaps of stylistic and media change-ups over theyearsmostly due to happenstance. For example, a series of watercolors cameabout because I was given a watercolor set for my 40th birthday. Since I hadno idea how to go about making a conventionally good watercolor, I got someinteresting, but unorthodox, results. I havent done any in a while but keeppromising my dealer that Ill produce more.RB: What about your famous, or was it infamous, Muscle Car Minimalism period?RC: Oh yeah, the muscle car thingthat was a while ago (1999, to be exact),but I still get asked about it a lot. I was interested in the similarity betweenModernist hard- edged abstraction and muscle car stripes. Both sub-genresoperate from conceits of power and transcendence but arrive from totallydifferent ends of the cultural spectrum. The first exhibition of this work wascalled Westie Modernism Eastern Thought, a title lifted from a John McLaughlinshow called Western Modernism Eastern Thought.RB: Westie being a Kiwi euphemism forRC: West Aucklandbogan, redneck. Anyway, the show was mounted for asingle day at the Victory Snooker Saloon in Wellington. The exhibitionwiththe work standing on snooker tablescaused an unexpected stir and got alot of publicity. The New Zealand Listener named it Wellington exhibition of theyear. I was interviewed on TV and sold out the show. One collector wanted tobuy the entire exhibition. I still get offers. But, in the end, I produced only oneother show of them. I thought the concept a bit ofa one-liner and lost interest. I know some artists areaccused of sabotaging themselves by changing-up theminute people show an interest in their work. Id like tothink that I am not one of them. In fact, I see how youcould run with a brand as an artist and, more than likely,do rather well. But thats not me either.Roger Boyce is an artist and writer living in Christchurch.Sculpture April 2012 37Above and detail: Long Story, Not Worth It, 2011. Mixed media, scale model figure 1.8cm. Right: Owl, 2011. Found objects, 44 x 22 x 22 cm.LEFT:COURTESY{SUITE}GALLERY,WELLINGTON,NEWZEALAND/RIGHT:COURTESYMALCOMBROWCOLLECTION,WELLINGTON,NEWZEALANDPrevious Page | Contents | Zoom in | Zoom out | Front Cover | Search Issue | Next Pagesculpture qqM MqqM MqMQmags THE WORLDS NEWSSTANDPrevious Page | Contents | Zoom in | Zoom out | Front Cover | Search Issue | Next Pagesculpture qqM MqqM MqMQmags THE WORLDS NEWSSTANDSimple Simply IsntPeter SheltonA Conversation withPrevious Page | Contents | Zoom in | Zoom out | Front Cover | Search Issue | Next Pagesculpture qqM MqqM MqMQmags THE WORLDS NEWSSTANDPrevious Page | Contents | Zoom in | Zoom out | Front Cover | Search Issue | Next Pagesculpture qqM MqqM MqMQmags THE WORLDS NEWSSTANDuheader, 19952009. Mixed media, 78 x 28.5 x 28 in. ROBERTWEDEMEYER,COURTESYL.A.LOUVER,VENICE,CAPrevious Page | Contents | Zoom in | Zoom out | Front Cover | Search Issue | Next Pagesculpture qqM MqqM MqMQmags THE WORLDS NEWSSTANDPrevious Page | Contents | Zoom in | Zoom out | Front Cover | Search Issue | Next Pagesculpture qqM MqqM MqMQmags THE WORLDS NEWSSTANDWhether realistic fabrications from a consummatedraftsman (thingsgetwet) or abstract blobs (clouds-andclunkers), Sheltons works perform hard-to-artic-ulate spatial, perceptual, and emotive actions uponus. Though this is hardly new, Sheltons knack is toyoke proprioception directly to eccentric contentmeaning and allusion are experiential not rhetorical.In his work, we dont contemplate the precarious bal-ance between appendage and gravitywe feel theweird profundity of this simple fact and its existentialimplications for all earthbound life and endeavor.Jean Arp-ish pods that can look simian, pipes thatresemble a small colon, or realistic bronze boots thatmake us acutely aware of a corpus in absentiaSheltonnever illustrates the body, never overtly references itsendeavors, fears, or psychological dimensions. Instead,his works enliven an awareness of certain actions andproperties: fast, slow, approach, retreat, growth, con-traction, mass, void, inside, outside, visible, occluded.He considers these physical states to be the essenceof quotidian experience, full of emotive, existentialpunch; he also claims no interest in literally addressingthem. What he seems to be after is the creationof visual conditions/objects in which perception andallusion happen at once.After undergraduate studies in medieval literature,anthropology, theater, and pre-med biology, Sheltonretreated to the woods to be still, to do simple thingswith his hands (he mastered industrial welding) andforget all that hed learned. He eventually got an MFAfrom UCLA, taught at major universities, absorbedMondrian and Nauman, Turrell, and Merleau-Ponty,and came up with a life and art practice full of feistymistrust for all unexamined standards. Sheltonscreations hover between animal and mineral,full abstraction and vague representation, invokingmachines and juicy viscera, logic and madness whilefiring synapses in both the left and right sides of thebrain.40 Sculpture 31.3redouroboros, 200405. Mixed media, 70 x 50 x 42 in.BY MARLENA DOKTORCZYK-DONOHUEEverything about Peter Shelton (pristine studio, stunning preparatory drawings, conversation sprinkled withLatin terms) suggests a combination of obsessive technician and daring poet willing to risk it all for an idea.(A case in point, his controversial 2009 commission for the Los Angeles Police Department [LAPD] headquar-ters.) In his studio, massive shapes in various stages of completion envelop and dwarf the visitor; even unfin-ished, their physical impact is immediate and kinesthetic. Dramatic, dynamic activation of the viewers bodyand ambient space marks a clear focus that began with Sheltons earliest ruminations about the boundariesof architecture. He is less willing to pin down meaning.COURTESYL.A.LOUVER,VENICE,CAPrevious Page | Contents | Zoom in | Zoom out | Front Cover | Search Issue | Next Pagesculpture qqM MqqM MqMQmags THE WORLDS NEWSSTANDPrevious Page | Contents | Zoom in | Zoom out | Front Cover | Search Issue | Next Pagesculpture qqM MqqM MqMQmags THE WORLDS NEWSSTANDMarlena Doktorczyk-Donohue: What were some of your earlyinfluences?Peter Shelton: The general mosh pit of the 1960s and 70sDickBarnes, psychedelia, mysticism, Buddhism, anti-war stuff.MDD: How have you managed to make such varied work fromfairly basic shapes?PS: I dont think the lexicon or the results are simple or basic. Iget a huge diversity within shapes, across works, and in the feelingsgenerated. The whole concept of what I do gets dislodged whenyou consider the work in total. For 10 years, I was doing largelyinteractive environmental work. I thought of shapes as proto-architectures, as large organisms with an almost alimentary pro-cessional. My kind of figuration snuck in through this architec-tural approach and my pre-med studies.MDD: I meant apparently simple, not conceptually simple.PS: A lot of my early work started off nominally geometric, buteven then, I would sneak in references to the body without showinga body, which was a kind of subversive connection. Desire, mem-ory, humor, and menace are powerful psychic qualities that I dontavoid, but I wanted any narrative to be understood as much inthe body as in the mind.MDD: Would you concede that you create zany correlates of thebody that maneuver between the abstract and the figurative?PS: This whole figurative versus abstract stuff comes from faultythinking after World War II, suggesting that Modernism was fun-damentally a battle between representation and abstraction. Idont see it as one leading to the other or exceeding the other. Itcomes down to achieving some core expression, and the howsof getting there follow from that.MDD: Do you mean that idea trumps process?PS: Nothing is that simple. I mean that its inaccurate to see mywork as growing linearly from abstract to real or simple to com-plex, or the reverse. Unlike many of my formalist predecessors, Idont work linearly, evolving from project and situation to the nextproject and situationideas continue to circulate. Sixtyslipperscame 15 years after its ideas first showed up in majorjointshang-ersandsquat; and majorjointshangersandsquat is a several powers-of-ten telescoped view outward from the incredibly focused andrealistic detail of thingsgetwet.MDD: By powers of ten do you mean that you start from theminutia of an idea or a close-in scale and then years later look atthe same idea or object in expanded conceptual and physicaldimensions?PS: It never goes in any predictable arc. I think that comes frommy pre-med studies, from a general curiosity, and from the factthat I hate rules.MDD: What rules were or are you reacting to?PS: I did grad work during the transition from Abstract Expressionismto the high formalism of Greenberg, followed by Minimalism. Anyconventional figurative work was banned; drawing was anathema.Making overly large things that went into space was suspect becauseof forbidden, so-called theatricality. You could include nothing in realart that drew from other disciplines, like architecture or the stage.Sculpture April 2012 41COURTESYL.A.LOUVER,VENICE,CALeft: redbuttons, 19872010. Mixed media, 26 x 44 x 26 in. Below: godshole,2003. Mixed media, 60 x 30 x 60 in.Previous Page | Contents | Zoom in | Zoom out | Front Cover | Search Issue | Next Pagesculpture qqM MqqM MqMQmags THE WORLDS NEWSSTANDPrevious Page | Contents | Zoom in | Zoom out | Front Cover | Search Issue | Next Pagesculpture qqM MqqM MqMQmags THE WORLDS NEWSSTANDMDD: And this registers in your work how?PS: I have gone out of my way to engage the body and use archi-tectural space. Drawing has been very important in leading meto the skin-and-bones schematic understructure of my work.MDD: Did you have an epiphany that allowed you to cast off allthe grad school dogma?PS: I realized that I wanted to make stuff that embodied physicalityinstead of just depicting it, or illustrating it, or merely pointingto it. What possible reason could there be for referencing phys-icality? That is an oxymoron, as I see it.MDD: Can you elaborate?PS: I can go to school and learn to make a perfect foreshortenedarmin fact, I can. But that is not the act or experience of fore-shortening, which is the feeling one has of contraction as theopposite of stretching. I want to create conditions in my workthat produce those experiences in three dimensions as senses inyour body.MDD: Then the 70s caught up with you in the activation of per-ception and space stressed in Minimalism.PS: Yes, that almost scientific vibe you get in an Andre, a Judd, or aStella. But there, its almost like form could be put on autopilotand the work would make itself. The final import of that work isthe elegance of some formal algorithm. Of course, Judd was inter-ested in the nature of form and color, but that stuff was inten-tionally self-referential and what I call germ free.MDD: Do you feel that a slightly messier, less germ-free approachis linked to Los Angeles?PS: Here in L.A., there were hybrid and spatially extensive worksthat completely mixed up forms and experience. So, messier?Yes, please. The formal virtues of, say, Kienholz and Nauman arequite underrated, but their choices are no less precise than thoseof Judd.MDD: You keep mentioning balance between technique andmood, maybe because you come from both literary and scientificentry points.PS: For me, the impact of Nauman or Kienholz is less based onformal continuity and consistency than on a very discernable narra-tive tone in their work. I wanted to make work that used an aware-ness of the body and careful process to push you out into generalquestions through formsort of like inviting you to contemplateyour navel, turning you inside out and dropping you out of theother end.MDD: Should we get the elephant out of the room and talk aboutthe LAPD headquarters commission from 2009?PS: Justice, power, and protection are words that have areality attached to them, and that reality is part of policing. Theyare also constructs or symbols. In both of these contexts, theymean different things to different peopleask a wealthy white guyin Malibu what justice or protection is, and he has one idea; ask akid from South Central, and you get another. I wanted to createa physical experience not so literally related to those concepts.MDD: But why monkeys and quasi-porcine shapes?PS: I got to thinking about animals and what they stand for, howtheir shapes and symbols mean this or that in various culturesthrough time. Childhood memories of animals get mixed in, anda concepts born that keeps evolving as you invent and solve for-mal issues. I expect and hope everyone will have a different take.Do I expect a frontal attack from educated people? No. But I havebeen at this long enough to know that can be part of it.MDD: As tough as the LAPD project might have been, your faadefor the Indianapolis Public Library is just plain stunning.PS: thinmanlittlebird is a two-part work installed on a 1917 GreekRevival building designed by Philadelphia-based French architectPaul Cret. Its a pretty building, and it had two exterior pedestalsthat were left un-appointed by Cret.MDD: Youve played with the pedestal idea in other works.42 Sculpture 31.3COURTESYL.A.LOUVER,VENICE,CAPrevious Page | Contents | Zoom in | Zoom out | Front Cover | Search Issue | Next Pagesculpture qqM MqqM MqMQmags THE WORLDS NEWSSTANDPrevious Page | Contents | Zoom in | Zoom out | Front Cover | Search Issue | Next Pagesculpture qqM MqqM MqMQmags THE WORLDS NEWSSTANDPS: I had spent a lot of my career avoiding the pedestal becauseits a whole extra formal element in which I had no interest, andpedestals remove a work from immediate space, putting it backup behind a proscenium or stage.MDD: But as is your way, rather than avoid an issue, you take it on.PS: Thats true. The LAPD commission started with existing pedes-tals. In a Lannan Foundation installation years before, I launcheda very tall figure off one pedestal and floated a contrasting hori-zontal figure over a second one. At the Cret building, I wanted torespect the whole Beaux-Arts tradition but also move the sculp-ture forward to a current moment in art. On one pedestal, thin-man plays with the Greek ideal of human form, more a gangly vinegesture in bronze than a Hellenic god. littlebird cantilevers overthe twin pedestal, a small cast sparrow sitting on an 11-foot diam-eter torus. The Neoclassical style uses polyhedrons, cubes, cones,and spheres. I saw the torus as an updated Platonic form. Thedoughnut shape is everywherecells, galaxiesso I imaginedthis hovering universe of knowledge.MDD: Can a public art audience handle the degree of ambiguityexpected by gallery-goers?PS: Each venue has its imperatives. Art is not always courteous,but public projects are always courteous; sometimes they com-memorate. You have a mandate, an art committee or commis-sion that dispenses money. Theres usually some narrative youreasked to address. Some people call public commissions functionalart because they fulfill certain explicit social functions, likeregional semiotics or history telling. Ideally, for me, making orconceiving art is not driven by a function or a meaning.MDD: But you actively throw your glove in to do public projects.Sculpture April 2012 43Above: godspipes, 199798. Mixed media, 189 elements, dimensions vari-able. Right: romandrain, 1993. Bronze, water, copper, and pump, 58.5 x 23x 34.5 in.BOTTOM:TONYCUNHA/BOTH:COURTESYL.A.LOUVER,VENICE,CAPrevious Page | Contents | Zoom in | Zoom out | Front Cover | Search Issue | Next Pagesculpture qqM MqqM MqMQmags THE WORLDS NEWSSTANDPrevious Page | Contents | Zoom in | Zoom out | Front Cover | Search Issue | Next Pagesculpture qqM MqqM MqMQmags THE WORLDS NEWSSTANDPS: I do it because the upside is that in public spacemany people can have an experiential reaction. Forwhat I want to investigate, that is really attractive.MDD: Could you say something about the atypicallyillustrative thingsgetwet series, which was shownin your recent career overview at L.A. Louver?PS: Its a series of realistic, oddly mysterious every-day objects cast in bronze with copper and designedto have little channels delivering water. But its notatypicalI have always worked with verisimilitudewhen an idea asked for it. The project came from acancelled commission at Dartmouth Colleges HoodMuseum that was to be a fountain mixing everydayobjects, medical models, domestic and religious arti-facts, architectural references, and engineered waterpumps. I had this idea that all of the objects, as wellas the whole high-versus-low culture thing, would beenlivened, abstracted, soothed, eroded, and equivo-cated by being bathed in water.MDD: What happened to the project?PS: The commission fell through, but I resolved to make44 Sculpture 31.3TOP:COURTESYTHEARTISTANDL.A.LOUVER,VENICE,CA/BOTTOM:JAYK.MCNALLY,COURTESYL.A.LOUVER,VENICE,CAAbove and detail: thinmanlittlebird, 2009. Cast bronze, 2 ele-ments: 44 x 4 x 4 ft. and 5.25 x 11 x 11 ft. Work installed at theIndianapolis-Marion County Public Library, IN. Left: churchsnake-bedbone, 1993. Bronze, copper, pumps, and water, 87 x 77 x 38 in.Previous Page | Contents | Zoom in | Zoom out | Front Cover | Search Issue | Next Pagesculpture qqM MqqM MqMQmags THE WORLDS NEWSSTANDPrevious Page | Contents | Zoom in | Zoom out | Front Cover | Search Issue | Next Pagesculpture qqM MqqM MqMQmags THE WORLDS NEWSSTANDa series of individual water works. Whilemost of the elements were made fromscratch, I wanted to have the impressionthat they were found. The very realisticallycrafted objects in thingsgetwet may seemanomalous, but they have a kind of rela-tional syntax and become small organismsin themselves.The powerhouse is a model of an 18th-century steam plant that initially suppliedsteam, then electricity, to the Miami Countycourthouse in Troy, Ohio, where I was born.It was originally going to sit atop a castingof a small wooden sleigh fashioned for mygrandmother by my great- grandfather. Iwanted a beautiful remnant of my Scots-Irish and Mennonite blacksmith past, so Ipaired the powerhouse with something fem-inine from my family. That sort of collisionof sensibilities recurs for me, where one poleis made vivid by its oppositeyou find thisas well in trunknutsWHITEHEADfloater.MDD: So, is this autobiographical?PS: It is not autobiographical per se, but Iwanted things close to my experience.MDD: I still see the body referenced here.PS: The model of Chartres Cathedral in churchsnakebedbone is the ultimate body ana-logue, with its Gothic skeleton and stained glass skin. Similarly, the frame of the bed isthe skeleton to the mattress and the snake on top is the most primal alimentary canal.MDD: What are you engaged in now?PS: At the moment, I am preoccupied with some works related to smoke and what I havebeen calling inyandoutys, which are iterations of simple convex and concave surfaces.Marlena Doktorczyk-Donohue is a writer based in Los Angeles.Sculpture April 2012 45RIGHT,TOPANDBOTTOM:JAYK.MCNALLY,COURTESYTHEARTISTANDL.A.LOUVER,VENICE,CAAbove: breadwaterwall, 1993. Bronze, copper, water, wood, and pump, 51 x 62.5 x 18 in. Below: oldwetbrick-house, 1993. Bronze, copper, pumps, and water, 36 x 42 x 42 in.Previous Page | Contents | Zoom in | Zoom out | Front Cover | Search Issue | Next Pagesculpture qqM MqqM MqMQmags THE WORLDS NEWSSTANDPrevious Page | Contents | Zoom in | Zoom out | Front Cover | Search Issue | Next Pagesculpture qqM MqqM MqMQmags THE WORLDS NEWSSTANDMaking Art VisibleAthena TachaA Conversation withPrevious Page | Contents | Zoom in | Zoom out | Front Cover | Search Issue | Next Pagesculpture qqM MqqM MqMQmags THE WORLDS NEWSSTANDPrevious Page | Contents | Zoom in | Zoom out | Front Cover | Search Issue | Next Pagesculpture qqM MqqM MqMQmags THE WORLDS NEWSSTANDAthena Tacha was born in Greece andreceived MA degrees in sculpture (Athens)and art history (Oberlin College) and aPhD in aesthetics (Sorbonne). Since 1970,she has done large-scale outdoor sculp-ture and conceptual/photographic artand has executed more than 40 largecommissions for public sites throughoutthe United States.Tachas work is represented in manymuseums, and she has exhibited widely.Atlantas High Museum hosted a largeretrospective in 1989, and a 40-year retro-spective recently finished a tour of Greece.This interview took place when AthenaTacha: From the Public to the Private(organized by the State Museum of Con-temporary Art, Thessaloniki, and co-spon-sored by the J.F. Costopoulos Foundationand the Municipal Art Gallery-G.I. Katsi-gras Museum of Larissa) was on view atthe Athens School of Fine Arts, its thirdvenue. Tacha also contributed a site-spe-cific installation to the recent inauguralshow of the Onassis Cultural Center inAthens, Polyglossia (30 Expatriate GreekArtists from America and Europe).Sculpture April 2012 47Athena Tacha, in collaboration withEDAW and AGA, Muhammad AliPlaza, 200209, Louisville, KY, featur-ing Dancing Steps amphitheater andStar Fountain.for EveryoneRICHARDE.SPEARBY HELENI POLICHRONATOUPrevious Page | Contents | Zoom in | Zoom out | Front Cover | Search Issue | Next Pagesculpture qqM MqqM MqMQmags THE WORLDS NEWSSTANDPrevious Page | Contents | Zoom in | Zoom out | Front Cover | Search Issue | Next Pagesculpture qqM MqqM MqMQmags THE WORLDS NEWSSTAND48 Sculpture 31.3to connect vertical and horizontal featuresof each building in a variety of ways, trans-forming their spaces.HP: How does the Onassis piece differ fromthe earlier ones?AT: I had already made a tape installationfor my retrospective at the ContemporaryArt Museum in Thessaloniki, and trying tofind local material, I discovered a whitewoven fiberglass tape that is sticky on oneside. When I used it at the Larissa Munici-pal Gallery (the second venue), I primarilyexploited its self-adhesiveness. At the Onas-sis show, I explored it further. I decided touse the huge column as the anchor for mywork, wrapping 40 pieces of tape aroundit and then stretching them across thecorner, as if the column were a fishermangathering his nets. So, the title for thework, Pull, came to mind. From every pointof attachment at the top of the walls,the tapes were then arranged in an irregu-lar flow, like rivulets of water, expandingdownwards into a cataract. The flowingtape areas were entirely improvised, likefree-hand drawing with brush and ink onpaper.HP: How would you explain the meaningof this work?AT: The tape field on the walls could beseen as foaming waves, quantum fluctu-ations, or even sensuous organic formsand, of course, viewers could find otherassociations in it. But, for me, Pull (elxis, inGreek) can be conceived as the attraction ofopposites on many different levels: massivecolumn versus ethereal material; rectilinearceiling strips versus spirals on the columnand curlicues on the walls; clarity versusambiguity or shifting complexity; fixed ver-sus open- ended, multivalent forms; andorder versus chaosultimately, the workcommunicated a tug of war between con-trary systems or forces.HP: Turning to outdoor sculpture, the areaof work for which you are best known, whatis your most recent public commission?AT: This past decade has been my mostproductive, perhaps because I quit teaching.I executed seven large public commissions,Heleni Polichronatou: You were invited to participate in the inaugural exhibition of thenew Onassis Cultural Center by its curator, Marilena Karra. How did your temporaryinstallation come about?Athena Tacha: Marilena, who was looking for new work by expatriate Greek artists, foundmy Web site and decided to invite me, without knowing that my retrospective was travelingthrough Greece in 2010. I went to see the huge space, still unfinished in October 2010; andback at home, I made a model of the area that was assigned to me, a corner facing one ofthe six massive columns that support the rooms 16-foot-high ceiling. (It would take a Samp-son to embrace such columns.) Marilena and the architects wanted me to do one of mytape sculptures, a series that I began in Ohio museums in the late 70s (in 1982, I didone in Pittsburgh, initiating the Mattress Factorys series of installations by visiting artists).For those early works, I selected white plasterboard tape, a low-cost architectural material,Left and below: Athenas Web, 2010. White fiber-glass plasterboard tape, installation at the StateMuseum of Contemporary Art, Thessaloniki.RICHARDE.SPEARPrevious Page | Contents | Zoom in | Zoom out | Front Cover | Search Issue | Next Pagesculpture qqM MqqM MqMQmags THE WORLDS NEWSSTANDPrevious Page | Contents | Zoom in | Zoom out | Front Cover | Search Issue | Next Pagesculpture qqM MqqM MqMQmags THE WORLDS NEWSSTANDTOP:RICHARDE.SPEAR/BOTTOM:COURTESYTHEARTISTSculpture April 2012 49and at other times perpendicularly, in synch with the flow of traffic under the bridge. Theanimation program is based on the heartbeat of a woman (about 70 pulses/minute) anda man (60 pulses/minute)my heart and my husbands, but it could be based on theheartbeats of any passing pedestrians.HP: It seems that transportation facilities are natural sites for you, since time, movement,and rhythm are central to your work.AT: That could not be more true. Those themes really came together in another commis-sion from the middle of this past decadeRiding With Sarah And Wayne, a mile-longpiece commissioned for the new Light Rail in Newark, New Jersey. There, I turned thepavement between the rails into a musical staff with black granite slabs as notes, inspiredby the scores of melodies sung or written by Newark jazz stars Sarah Vaughan and WayneShorter. The lyrics are sandblasted in granite along the platforms of the Center and Broadall but one in collaboration with architects,engineers, and landscape architects, andthree of them consist of several distinctworks. The largest, a five-acre commercialdevelopment in Friendship Heights, Mary-land (on the border with Washington, DC),was started in 2002 and completed in 2009.I designed the pavement of a large ovalplaza with planters and Light Obelisk Foun-tain, which extends from the corner of twomain avenues to a new Bloomingdalesstore. For the shopping arcade on one sideof the plaza, I created an animated RGBceiling called Light Riggings; and at theother end, I designed a 35-foot-high, ani-mated LED, open-steel tower, WWW-Tower(named for the initials of the three avenuesaround the development, Wisconsin, West-ern, and Willard, and alluding to the Web).The 25-foot-high black metal obelisk floatingover the fountain also consists of animat-ed LEDs, ascending and descending alongits four sides: two sides (blue and green)descend with changing water-like patterns,and the other two (yellow and red) ascend,constantly narrating a 12-minute text onWater as Life. Actually, the idea of com-munication underlies all the parts of thiscommission.HP: What about other recent commissions?AT: Many of the sites were related to trans-portation, and the dominant materials wereLEDs and water. At DCs new Morgan Boule-vard Metro station, I designed a small plazawith curving color paths and planters andblinking sign posts. STOP & GO was namedin honor of Garrett Augustus Morgan, theinventor of the first mechanical trafficcrossing sign. And in Bethesda, Maryland,I designed a 300-foot-long ceiling for thepedestrian bridge linking a four-story parkinggarage to the Strathmore Music Center. TheLED color animation of Hearts Beat pro-ceeds in two irregular rows, side by side,with the colors moving sometimes in thedirection of the pedestrians on the overpass,RiverCloud, 2010. White fiberglass plasterboardtape, installation at the Municipal Art Gallery-G.I. Katsigras Museum, Larissa, Greece.Pull, 2011. White fiberglass plasterboard tape,15 x 22 x 15 ft. Work installed at the OnassisCultural Center, Athens.Previous Page | Contents | Zoom in | Zoom out | Front Cover | Search Issue | Next Pagesculpture qqM MqqM MqMQmags THE WORLDS NEWSSTANDPrevious Page | Contents | Zoom in | Zoom out | Front Cover | Search Issue | Next Pagesculpture qqM MqqM MqMQmags THE WORLDS NEWSSTANDStreet stations, to be read by people waiting for the train. I had wanted themusic to be broadcast in the stations every time a train arrived, but thatexceeded the budgetwhich is always the problem with public art.HP: Why did you devote so much of your career to work in public spaces?AT: I believe in making art visible to everybodynot only the intellectual elite(museum visitors) or the rich collectors who can afford to buy it. The socialupheavals of the late 1960s made me feel that I would be an irresponsiblehuman being if I did not put art in the public domain. I also opted to makemy sculpture as an environmentnot a standing objectso that it could beexperienced kinesthetically as well as visually (with the body moving throughits space) and could serve a function, like landscape architecture. This way, Icould also address issues about the environmentboth natural and urban.HP: In your 1972 A Call to Artists for Social Action, you invited artists to resistthe corruption of their work by the gallery world. What was the response?AT: A number of younger artists at the time felt as I did and, encouraged by anew National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) program, we turned to the solu-tion of proposing art for public spaces (called site-specific art after the mid-1970s), with the aim of improving the urban environment and raising peoplesconsciousness about art. When I made my first public projects in 197576,some with NEA grants, only one stateHawaiihad percent-for-art legislation,along with a few cities, including Philadelphia, Miami, and Seattle. However,the federal governments General Services Administration (GSA) had also starteda program to commission artworks for new federal buildings (I won one of thefirst major commissions, for Norfolk, Virginia). Since then, almost every state,city, and county in the country has created some type of public art legislation,which has encouraged this major artistic movementthe first movement sinceDadaism to operate outside the gallery world.HP: Your Franklin Town Park was one of the first public parks created as a workof art. The conversion of large urban spaces into works of art has become a keytrend today, part of a broader intention to create a relationship between artand everyday life. Would you like to comment on this issue?AT: I was perhaps the first artist to conceive of a park as a Gesamtkustwerk,using its land, plantings, and even utilitarian features as materials (insteadof clay, marble, or bronze). I did that in a proposal for the Charles River StepSculptures for Bostons waterfront (January 1974) and in a proposal for theSawyer Point Recreation Park in Cincinnati, Ohio (1977). I realized the sameconcepts in my vest-pocket Tide Park (Smithtown, Long Island, 197677)and in Connections at Franklin Town Park, an entireblock in central Philadelphia (198192). Such parksare not to be confused with sculpture gardens, whichare really outdoor sculpture museums.HP: Since the 70s, artists have made a concerted effortto reintegrate nature into the built landscape. Theyincorporate plants, rocks, and water into public sculp-ture and participate in the rehabilitation of urban areasdestroyed by industrial development. What do you thinkneeds to happen between communities and artists tomake a successful public art program of this kind?AT: Modern cities are a real visual and ecological disas-ter, particularly in their industrial and suburban sprawl(the entire area of Attica has become a suburb ofAthens, which has spread as cancerously as Los Angeles).A number of idealists, like myself, have tried to proposesolutions for improvement, but even in the case of sup-portive government administrations, art is never givenenough funding to make a dent in the ugliness. Inthe West, few cities outside of EuropeChicago andVancouver come to mindhave a great architecturaltradition or contemporary identity with which to fostergood public art.HP: The evolution of public art gave birth to new con-cepts and new content, and younger artists took intoconsideration local cultural, social, political, and eco-nomic conditions. Richard Serras Tilted Arc clashedwith the aesthetic perception of its viewers. In youropinion, should artists create in accordance with pub-lic expectations? Should public art develop its owncriteria for suitability, quality, and taste that mightbe different from those of the atelier?50 Sculpture 31.3RICHARDE.SPEARBloomingdales Plaza, 200209, Friendship Heights, MD. Publicspace with Light Obelisk Fountain, animated LEDs, black alu-minum, black granite, and water, 30 x 30 ft.; and Light Riggings,animated RGB ceiling.Previous Page | Contents | Zoom in | Zoom out | Front Cover | Search Issue | Next Pagesculpture qqM MqqM MqMQmags THE WORLDS NEWSSTANDPrevious Page | Contents | Zoom in | Zoom out | Front Cover | Search Issue | Next Pagesculpture qqM MqqM MqMQmags THE WORLDS NEWSSTANDAT: Serra is a great sculptor, but he does not (or did notthen) have a public consciousness. The Tilted Arc affairdestroyed the future of permanent public art in theU.S. After that, administrations became scared to com-mit funding for permanent projects, and most of themturned to temporary projects. I personally believe thata good artist committed to public art must have a dif-ferent attitude and develop a different artistic vocab-ulary from the studio and gallery artist. I do not meanthat artistic visions and values should be diluted bygeneral opinion. The commissioning institution andthe artist must inform, educate, and consult the com-munity to a great extent, but the general public shouldnever dictate the art (too much listening to the com-munity can be destructive). The artist, who has spentan entire lifetime studying how to make art and devel-oping a personal vision, must ultimately create thepublic artwork. Even communal art, like the medievalcathedrals, had a leading mind, an architect or a sculp-tor who conceived and directed the project.HP: Some new cities have demonstrated strong growthin all forms of art. For example, artists were involvedin the urban design of Villeneuve dAscq, France, show-ing that public space can be conceived as a living spacethrough the power of art in relation to architecture,residents needs, and aesthetic quality. What do yousee as the future for artists in urban planning?AT: I have seen only a few views of Villeneuve dAscq,but I definitely think that artists should be involved inurban design projects, as well as in architectural andlandscape complexes. This can only improve the urban fabric and ultimately,ideally, the quality of peoples lives. Even though I am a loner working in mystudios with assistants, I have often collaborated with architects. Since 2000,I have worked exclusively with architectural or engineering firms as an artisticconsultant and designer of specific parts of their projects.HP: What work of yours in a public place do you prefer and why?AT: I have a lot of favorites, but Ill name two. Green Acres (198587) is amultimedia, environmental sculpture for the courtyard of the Department ofEnvironmental Protection of the State of New Jersey in Trenton. It combinessculptural step formations that serve as seats, a green pavement of slateand granite slabs with sandblasted photographs of the endangered landscapesand species of New Jersey, planters with live plants specified by me, and redvolcanic rock clustersbringing together my sculptural, social, environmen-tal, photographic, and conceptual interests.My more recent favorite is the Muhammad Ali Plaza (200209) in Louis-ville, Kentucky, where the great boxer was born. In collaboration with thelandscape architecture firm EDAW, I designed a glass waterfall at the top,the Dancing Steps amphitheater and pavement of the middle level, and inthe center, the Star Fountain with a seven-minute program of animatedLEDs lighting 48 glass columns that spiral inside a star-shaped basin. Youcan see a video of the light dance of Star Fountain on YouTube.HP: What are you working on now?AT: I have been invited to do a large outdoor installation at Grounds For Sculp-ture, which will stay up for a year, and I hope it can be executed by 2013.On a smaller scale, I have started on an extensive cycle of digital photo-worksabout the cyclical interaction between humans and nature, using my pho-tographs of the fantastic stone landscape of Petra, which I visited again lastspring. Like all of my art, these works are about our environment, on Earthand in the universe.Heleni Polichronatous PhD thesis for the Athens School of Fine Arts wasLarge Scale Artwork in Public Space: From the 60s to the 21st Century(2007).Sculpture April 2012 51JIMFENNELConnections, 198192. Planted stone terracing, rock clusters, trees,and paths, work located in Franklin Town Park, Philadelphia.Previous Page | Contents | Zoom in | Zoom out | Front Cover | Search Issue | Next Pagesculpture qqM MqqM MqMQmags THE WORLDS NEWSSTANDPrevious Page | Contents | Zoom in | Zoom out | Front Cover | Search Issue | Next Pagesculpture qqM MqqM MqMQmags THE WORLDS NEWSSTANDPrevious Page | Contents | Zoom in | Zoom out | Front Cover | Search Issue | Next Pagesculpture qqM MqqM MqMQmags THE WORLDS NEWSSTANDPrevious Page | Contents | Zoom in | Zoom out | Front Cover | Search Issue | Next Pagesculpture qqM MqqM MqMQmags THE WORLDS NEWSSTANDSculpture April 2012 53ANTIPODEAN TREASUREConnells BaySculpture ParkOpposite: Aerial view of Connells BaySculpture Park, with Cathryn Monro,Rise, 2001. Bronze, concrete, andwater, 98 x 594 x 470 cm. This page:Chris Booth, Slip, 2003. Basalt,greywacke, and stainless steel, 50x 750 x 750 cm.BY ROBIN WOODWARD The city of Auckland, New Zealands largest population base, sports four first-class sculp-ture parks within a 50-kilometer radius of its Central Business District. Of these, ConnellsBay Sculpture Park is unique in presenting a microcosm of the countrys large-scale sculp-ture.1Nestled into a private bay at the eastern end of Waiheke Island (a short ferry ridefrom downtown Auckland) within a landscape of native bush, Connells Bay SculpturePark showcases New Zealands premier sculptors of the last two decades.The park was established in 1998 by John and Jo Gow. Initially, they purchased sculptureto enhance the setting for three colonial-era cottages along the shoreline. However, theconcept of a sculpture park developed, and the Gows have purchased and commissionedmore than 26 large-scale permanent works and five temporary installations. In this evo-lution, Connells Bay has followed a typical patternwhile the collection began withpurchased works, it continued to grow through commissioned pieces. This mature stagehas brought with it some of the parks most distinctive sculpture, since commissionedworks tend to have a specific reference to place, space, or site.In the strictest sense, site-specific refers to a work that belongs integrally to itssite, a work that would be diminished or lose its meaning if placed elsewhere. But theterm also identifies works commissioned or designed for a particular site. Tilted Arc is,without doubt, the most renowned example of a site-specific work. At Connells Bay,Fatu Feuus Guardian of the Planting (1999) is unambiguously site-specific. Carved intothe giant stump of an ancient macrocarpa tree that had been forked by lightning,Guardian of the Planting is rooted to the land in that specific spot; it simply cannot beplaced anywhere else.Previous Page | Contents | Zoom in | Zoom out | Front Cover | Search Issue | Next Pagesculpture qqM MqqM MqMQmags THE WORLDS NEWSSTANDPrevious Page | Contents | Zoom in | Zoom out | Front Cover | Search Issue | Next Pagesculpture qqM MqqM MqMQmags THE WORLDS NEWSSTANDIn addition to such site-specific sculpture,Connells Bay also features site-responsiveworks. These works do more than simplyreference site or place; they have a com-plementary relationship to the land. Forinstance, in Chris Booths Slip (200304),five baskets of stones address soil erosion.In tandem with restorative planting of thehillside, Booth covered and nurtured theterrain by cloaking it in one of his earthblankets. Regan Gentrys Skeleton Trees(2009) similarly addresses the needs of theenvironment. These art-trees, which Gentrycreated by manipulating No. 8 fencing wire(the basic material of old farm fences inNew Zealand), use an ordinarily destructiveintervention to restore vegetation.Nic Moons temporary installation, Outof the Ashes (2007), responded to the sameissue. To protect native seedlings, Moonprovided each one with a shelter shaped aseither a traditional Maori cloak or a colonialcrinoline. Throughout New Zealands colo-nial history, the indigenous vegetation ofAotearoa has been systematically cleared todevelop farmland. Moons dual-purposework supplements John and Jo Gows pro-gram of planting native trees at ConnellsBay. Her work also critiques the sculptureparks development activities in whichvegetation is cleared to make way for art.The Gows have embraced a variety of worksthat challenge the concept of a sculpturepark and comment on their own activitiesat Connells Bay.Multimedia artist Gaye Jurisich madeanother critique while providing a lively,colorful addition to the environment. Hertemporary installation The Long Lei (2006)added a sculpture to the sculpture park anda flowerbed to the garden, and its artifi-ciality commented on the practice of domes-tic and civic landscaping. As a temporaryinstallation, The Long Lei celebrated theconservation movement; after aneight-month summer season, the work wasremoved, leaving no trace.Characteristically, the sculpture at Con-nells Bay is informed by reference to place,relating to the geographical, social, andcultural history of the area. Peter Nichollssriver of life, Tomo (2005), which threadsits way through a stand of mature kanuka,is inscribed with the names of the fourfamilies that first claimed Connells Bay forEurope. Named for the pot or sink holesthat characterize the geography of karstcountry, Tomo twists and turns, a red rib-bon of timber that traces the patterns ofthe underground limestone landscape andits streams.Some of the local references embodied ina sculpture can be fortuitous. For example,David McCrackens 18 meters of weather-ripened Cor-ten steel, The Best Laid Plans GoWest (2009), acquired additional meaningduring its installation. The sculpture bar-rels out of the hillside on an east/west axis,its title quoting a line of McCrackens poetrythat plays on the alignment of thesculpture and alludes to the artists earlier,54 Sculpture 31.3Regan Gentry, Skeleton Trees, 2009. No. 8 fencingwire, galvanized pipe, and concrete, 480 x 320 x 32cm.Previous Page | Contents | Zoom in | Zoom out | Front Cover | Search Issue | Next Pagesculpture qqM MqqM MqMQmags THE WORLDS NEWSSTANDPrevious Page | Contents | Zoom in | Zoom out | Front Cover | Search Issue | Next Pagesculpture qqM MqqM MqMQmags THE WORLDS NEWSSTANDunsuccessful attempt to hydro-inflate agiant Cor-ten steel balloon for the sculp-ture park. The title became increasinglyserendipitous as the piece went through anumber of iterations. Plagued by delayscaused by inclement weather and the com-plex logistics of shipping and trucking 10tons of steel to the secluded site, time andagain, the Gows and McCracken watchedtheir best laid plans go west.Jeff Thomsons corrugated iron Three CowsLooking Out to Sea (1991/2001) recalls theagricultural and human history of ConnellsBay. The first of the three individual pieceswas purchased to graze at the Gows ruralproperty north of Auckland. After movingto the more extensive pasture of ConnellsBay, the solitary bovine looked lonely so theGows commissioned a pair of companions.Thomson embedded the cows in their envi-ronment through his careful choice of site.On a hillside overlooking the bay, one ofthe heifers is resting, another is grazing,and the third looks up as if disturbed byactivity down on the water. Historically,everything at Connells Bay, including live-stock, arrived by sea.Neil Dawsons Other Peoples Houses(2004) makes a formal statement aboutthe colonial history of New Zealand andthe local settlement at Connells Bay. The7.9-meter-high tower of higgledy-piggledysteel-frame house outlines is painted inred and white, the traditional colors ofNew Zealands corrugated iron and weath-erboard homes. The work specifically refer-ences the three 19th- century cottagestucked away along the waters edge atConnells Bay.2Dawsons work emphasizesSculpture April 2012 55Peter Nicholls, Tomo, 2005. Wood and galvanizedsteel, 480 cm. long.David McCracken, The Best Laid Plans Go West,2009. Cor-ten steel, 240 x 1800 x 800 cm.Previous Page | Contents | Zoom in | Zoom out | Front Cover | Search Issue | Next Pagesculpture qqM MqqM MqMQmags THE WORLDS NEWSSTANDPrevious Page | Contents | Zoom in | Zoom out | Front Cover | Search Issue | Next Pagesculpture qqM MqqM MqMQmags THE WORLDS NEWSSTANDthat these houses are interventions in thenatural environment (and it is always otherpeoples houses that blight the landscape.Social history also informs two importantkinetic works, Phil Prices Dancer (2003) andGraham Bennetts Reasons to Return (2006).The leisurely, almost languid Dancer adoptsthe yellow of the daffodil fields plantedaround the farms cowshed in the 19thcentury. The three open-mesh radar dishesthat slowly swirl and twirl with the aircurrents in Bennetts Reasons to Return arerather like latitudinal and longitudinalnavigational devices. More than just ageneric reference to the universal call ofhome, the work alludes to the extrememeasures taken by early European settlersliving at Connells Bayat the end of a dayswork, they are known to have rowed some25 kilometers to the Coromandel Peninsulafor an evening of companionship, rowinghome at daybreak for the mornings milking.While Reasons to Return may have theappearance of a constantly active signal-ing system, it is an artistic interpreta-tion of a functional device. Other worksat Connells Bay, however, retain a utili-tarian purpose. Crossing over wetlands,Virginia Kings Oioi Bridge (2002) linkstwo distinct areas of the sculpture park,low-lying coastal land and grassy hill-country.3Built of flexible ribs and planks,this kinetic art-bridge rattles and rolls asvisitors walk over it, generating a streamof vibrations and clatterings.4With water trickling down through over-flow channels, Cathryn Monros Rise (2001)appears to be a dam, a functional piece ofenvironmental engineering. At the top is asmall lake, which explains the purpose ofthe dam. Or does it? Monro clearly refer-ences the artificial lake, but she did notbuild a dam. Instead, her work critiquesthis intervention in the landscape, onenecessitated by the creation of the sculp-ture park. The landscaped lake also servesas a site for sculptureDavid McCrackensReeds (2001), which has since been removedfor restoration, was the earliest example.Julia Orams Bung (2007) also takes to thewater. A giant bath plug apparently float-ing in the ocean, Bung resonates with therising tide of concern about climatechange, while adding a touch of whimsyto the Connells Bay collection.The Gows continue to be personallyinvolved with the sculpture park. In addi-tion to working closely with artists, Johnand Jo Gow personally accompany visitorson tours of the park. Enjoying financial56 Sculpture 31.3Graham Bennett, Reasons to Return, 2006. 725x 795 cm., with 1000 cm. footprint.Phil Price, Dancer, 2003. Carbon fiber and fiber-glass, 600 x 400 x 400 cm.Previous Page | Contents | Zoom in | Zoom out | Front Cover | Search Issue | Next Pagesculpture qqM MqqM MqMQmags THE WORLDS NEWSSTANDPrevious Page | Contents | Zoom in | Zoom out | Front Cover | Search Issue | Next Pagesculpture qqM MqqM MqMQmags THE WORLDS NEWSSTANDsecurity through assured patronage, consis-tency in management, and a continuity ofvision, their initiative affords great opportu-nities for fine-tuning. Thus, the collection atConnells Bay has evolved in a nuanced rela-tionship to its location, while exemplifyingthe diverse themes, forms, materials, andtechniques that characterize large-scalesculpture in New Zealand.The land, its cultivation and conservation,has long been at the heart of New Zealandart. At Connells Bay, such themes abound,interpreted through works that range fromartificial flowers and living plants to cast,figurative sculpture and abstract steel works.Materials are equally diverse. The corru-gated iron of Thomsons cows and the No. 8fencing wire of Gentrys Skeleton Trees arethe building blocks of rural communitiesthroughout the country. The concrete andsteel of the construction industry giveform to the work of Monro and Bennett.Jurisich threads mass-produced plastic flow-ers in The Long Lei, contrasting with Pricesuse of high-tech carbon fiber in Dancerand Angel (2004). Fatu Feuu uses timber;Booth, local stone; Bob Stewart encour-ages visitors to stroke and polish the sur-face of his precious pounamu The DarkOne (2002).5Connells Bay Sculpture Park boasts averitable history of modern New Zealandsculpture, nestled in an idyllic seaside set-ting of coastal lowlands and rolling hill-sides clothed in native flora. Traditionally,the Maori regard foliage as the cloak of theland. At Connells Bay, the cloak is adornedwith contemporary sculptures that respondto the environment and reference the geo-graphical, social, and cultural history ofthe place.Robin Woodward is a senior lecturer in arthistory at the University of Auckland.Sculpture April 2012 57Virginia King, Oioi Bridge, 2002. Aluminum, stainlesssteel wire, and silver coins, 120 x 700 x 260 cm.Notes1Auckland also hosts the boutique sculptors sculpture park Zealandia, the home and studio of Terry Stringer, one of New Zealands finest creators of figura-tive bronze works. Nearby, Brick Bay Sculpture Trail is the countrys most extensive commercial outdoor gallery of large-scale sculpture. Further to the west, inKaipara, The Farm has gained world-wide recognition for its collection of work by local and international artists.2Of the three houses, one is home to the Gows, another provides a residence for artists. The third is available as accommodation for visitors who wish to stayat the sculpture park.3Oioi grass is a coastal, swamp grass that grows in the low-lying wetlands of Connells Bay.4There are three acoustic works at Connells Bay, Kings Oioi Bridge, Phil Dadsons Tenantennae (2005), and Konstantin Dimopouloss Kete (2004), which whis-tles in the wind.5Pounamu, also known as greenstone, is a nephrite jade found on the South Island.Previous Page | Contents | Zoom in | Zoom out | Front Cover | Search Issue | Next Pagesculpture qqM MqqM MqMQmags THE WORLDS NEWSSTANDPrevious Page | Contents | Zoom in | Zoom out | Front Cover | Search Issue | Next Pagesculpture qqM MqqM MqMQmags THE WORLDS NEWSSTANDPrevious Page | Contents | Zoom in | Zoom out | Front Cover | Search Issue | Next Pagesculpture qqM MqqM MqMQmags THE WORLDS NEWSSTANDPrevious Page | Contents | Zoom in | Zoom out | Front Cover | Search Issue | Next Pagesculpture qqM MqqM MqMQmags THE WORLDS NEWSSTAND____________ ______________ _______________________________ _____________ ______________________________________________________Previous Page | Contents | Zoom in | Zoom out | Front Cover | Search Issue | Next Pagesculpture qqM MqqM MqMQmags THE WORLDS NEWSSTANDPrevious Page | Contents | Zoom in | Zoom out | Front Cover | Search Issue | Next Pagesculpture qqM MqqM MqMQmags THE WORLDS NEWSSTAND______________________________________________________ ______________________________ ________________Previous Page | Contents | Zoom in | Zoom out | Front Cover | Search Issue | Next Pagesculpture qqM MqqM MqMQmags THE WORLDS NEWSSTANDPrevious Page | Contents | Zoom in | Zoom out | Front Cover | Search Issue | Next Pagesculpture qqM MqqM MqMQmags THE WORLDS NEWSSTAND_____________________________________________Previous Page | Contents | Zoom in | Zoom out | Front Cover | Search Issue | Next Pagesculpture qqM MqqM MqMQmags THE WORLDS NEWSSTANDPrevious Page | Contents | Zoom in | Zoom out | Front Cover | Search Issue | Next Pagesculpture qqM MqqM MqMQmags THE WORLDS NEWSSTAND__________________________________Previous Page | Contents | Zoom in | Zoom out | Front Cover | Search Issue | Next Pagesculpture qqM MqqM MqMQmags THE WORLDS NEWSSTANDPrevious Page | Contents | Zoom in | Zoom out | Front Cover | Search Issue | Next Pagesculpture qqM MqqM MqMQmags THE WORLDS NEWSSTAND_____________________________________________Previous Page | Contents | Zoom in | Zoom out | Front Cover | Search Issue | Next Pagesculpture qqM MqqM MqMQmags THE WORLDS NEWSSTANDPrevious Page | Contents | Zoom in | Zoom out | Front Cover | Search Issue | Next Pagesculpture qqM MqqM MqMQmags THE WORLDS NEWSSTANDPrevious Page | Contents | Zoom in | Zoom out | Front Cover | Search Issue | Next Pagesculpture qqM MqqM MqMQmags THE WORLDS NEWSSTANDPrevious Page | Contents | Zoom in | Zoom out | Front Cover | Search Issue | Next Pagesculpture qqM MqqM MqMQmags THE WORLDS NEWSSTAND___________________________________Previous Page | Contents | Zoom in | Zoom out | Front Cover | Search Issue | Next Pagesculpture qqM MqqM MqMQmags THE WORLDS NEWSSTANDPrevious Page | Contents | Zoom in | Zoom out | Front Cover | Search Issue | Next Pagesculpture qqM MqqM MqMQmags THE WORLDS NEWSSTAND____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________AMALIE ROTHSCHILD: A RETROSPECTIVE VIEWTowson UniversityCenter for the Arts Gallery Osler and Cross Campus DrivesTowson, MarylandApril 19 June 16, 2012www.towson.edu/artscalendarAMALIE ROTHSCHILD 34: VESTMENTSMaryland Institute College of ArtBrown Center Rosenberg Gallery1301 W. Mount Royal Ave.Baltimore, MarylandApril 11 April 25, 2012www.mica.edu/AmalieRothschildAMALIE ROTHSCHILD ExhibitionsBirth of a Mermaid, 1996Previous Page | Contents | Zoom in | Zoom out | Front Cover | Search Issue | Next Pagesculpture qqM MqqM MqMQmags THE WORLDS NEWSSTANDPrevious Page | Contents | Zoom in | Zoom out | Front Cover | Search Issue | Next Pagesculpture qqM MqqM MqMQmags THE WORLDS NEWSSTAND________________________________________Sculpture April 2012 67NATHANSNYDER,COURTESYTHEBOISEARTMUSEUM8ot st, l bAMoMike RathbunBoise Art MuseumThe muscular arc of Mike Rathbuns|e ||oc||cn |e |cono ||me|||n became visible as soon as oneentered the foyer of the Boise ArtMuseum. Even from a distance, thissoaring tour de force mademomentum visible. The tilted ellip-tical ring, 73 feet across its longeraxis and held aloft by X-shaped sup-ports, ascended through a spaciousgallery and seemed to burstthrough the wall and out into theSculpture Court before boomerang-ing back into the building throughan adjacent room.|e ||oc||cn |e |cono ||me|||n was constructed of sustainablePacific Northwest lumber, whichRathbun has employed almostexclusively over the many years ofhis career. Pacific Albus, a poplarhybrid (and green timber) har-vested at the east end of the Colum-bia Gorge (not far from Rathbunshome in Portland) formed the palecore of the ellipse. The 14 strutshoisting it into the air were builtfrom Douglas fir, the regions em-blematic workhorse wood.Rathbun conceived a project sohuge that there was no choice butto assemble it in situ, a methodologythat introduced an element of riskand demanded working out, withexquisite precision, the conceptualmathematics of construction. Beforearriving in Boise, preparationsincluded the ripping of 1,400 slats toaccommodate the bend of the ellipse.|e ||oc||cn |e |cono ||me|| |nwas erected, with near-miraculousefficiency and speed, by a team of 10people working 12-hour days fortwo weeks. (The same team aidedRathbun in 1995, when he built aboat and solo-sailed it across LakeMichigan for his MFA thesis project.)The intensity of the on-site buildingprocess is intrinsic to Rathbuns work.He says that the making of thesculpture is the true artwork, whilethe final manifestation is simply therecord of the journeya solid, three-dimensional composite of the con-cepts, energy, and physical effort thatwent into the construction.reviewsMike Rathbun, The Situation HeFound Himself In (detail), 2011.Pacific Albus, Douglas fir, cedar,and hardware, 73 ft. diameter.Previous Page | Contents | Zoom in | Zoom out | Front Cover | Search Issue | Next Pagesculpture qqM MqqM MqMQmags THE WORLDS NEWSSTANDPrevious Page | Contents | Zoom in | Zoom out | Front Cover | Search Issue | Next Pagesculpture qqM MqqM MqMQmags THE WORLDS NEWSSTAND68 Sculpture 31.3There is an honesty to his exposednails and screws, the intentionalgaps in the sheathing, the remnantscribbles on the wood. At BAM,especially at the points where thesculpture seemed to puncture inte-rior and exterior, one could peerthrough to the core and see how itwas constructed. Raw and unfin-ished, the wood changed over thecourse of the showparticularly theoutdoor sectionfurther emphasiz-ing the impermanence of the work:at the end of the installation, thesculpture was dismantled and recy-cled.Rathbuns earlier works incorpo-rated symbolic representations, likeboats, aircraft, thorns, and chains.The Boise work, in contrast, reliedon abstract formal qualities to con-vey its theme, which Rathbun callsheroic/pathetic ironyby whichhe means the tension between thesacred and profane, between loftyaspiration and mundane drudgery.The skeletal fir supports were readilyanthropomorphized: with feet plant-ed firmly on the ground and armsraised, they appeared under-but-tressed for their burden. It was as ifthe sculpture were a metaphor forthe vicissitudes of life.The title was appropriated froma conversation between Rathbunand his brother Russell, a Lutheranclergyman. A story from Rathbunsyouth illustrates one potential inter-pretation. As a teenager, he was arunner and dreamed of competingin the Olympics. But he startedsmoking, and the situation he foundhimself in pitted worthy ambitionagainst human weakness.Rathbun states, I am trying tofind epiphanies. These are momentswhen for reasons that I cannotexplain, I seem to be connected tosomething outside of myselfI expe-rience a moment of clarity; clarityabout what, I dont knowPerhapsit is what C.S. Lewis calls a desirefor heaven. With tools in hand andusing unassuming materials,Rathbun-the- carpenter becomesRathbun-the-artist, momentarilyarresting transcendence in a workof art.||noc ene|Wts1 BottwoobAndrea ZittelRegen ProjectsWith postmodern savvy, AndreaZittels new works study frontierismas a phenomenon whose legacycontinues to reverberate within theAmerican imagination. Her recentexhibition featured examples fromtwo distinct bodies of work. One,a room-scaled installation, extendstraditional definitions of sculptureas an object that re-presents thereal in mimetic fashion. The secondpresents a phenomenally rich, ongo-ing body of work that celebratestraditional womens work as art.Absent from this exhibition werethe // ||.|n |n|| that broughtZittel recognition in the early 1970s.These works offered conceptualsolutions to the high costs and smallspaces of living quarters in citieslike L.A. and New York. Over theyears, Zittel has created an arrayof different series, all named //works, referencing her initials.Winking at the consumer culturepractice of branding products, inthe mid-90s, she began to probe NATHANSNYDER,COURTESYTHEBOISEARTMUSEUMAbove and detail: Mike Rathbun, The Situation He Found Himself In, 2011. Pacific Albus, Douglas fir, cedar, and hard-ware, 73 ft. diameter.Previous Page | Contents | Zoom in | Zoom out | Front Cover | Search Issue | Next Pagesculpture qqM MqqM MqMQmags THE WORLDS NEWSSTANDPrevious Page | Contents | Zoom in | Zoom out | Front Cover | Search Issue | Next Pagesculpture qqM MqqM MqMQmags THE WORLDS NEWSSTANDSculpture April 2012 69BRIANFORREST,COURTESYTHEARTISTANDREGENPROJECTS,LOSANGELESthe correlation between commercialproduct recognition and artworks.In this vein, she evolved her //|:ce /e||:|e of 1996, the // com-partment units of 2001, andthe ongoing // |e|cnc| |n||c|m.The room-scaled diorama thatopened the show granted a vision ofthe Western ranch property whereZittel currently works. With itssweeping spaciousness, it is seminallydifferent from the compact ||.|n|n|| of earlier years Viewers see aminiaturized sculpted likeness ofa spacious, rocky terrain as thoughglimpsed from the window of an air-plane. Resembling the landscapearound Joshua Tree and other desertcommunities in California andNevada, the ranch-style compoundfeatures a cluster of buildingsminiature replicas of the artists stu-dio, home, and guesthousethatreveal the human presence.This sculptural mirage rises on thecrest of a metal grid that details thelands undulations. The mirage ismodeled with a blindingly white plas-ter of Paris that manages to conveythe brightness of desert sunlight.Zittels new work signals a shift in herstudy of human habitations. Here,the intensity and struggle of dailyexistence is underscored in ways thatrefract her earlier wrangles with thattheme. The emphasis shifts from themetropolis of greater Los Angelesto a nature compromised by humanactivitythe homestead exists in aregion of abandoned military instal-lations and nuclear test sites.On one hand, Zittels work exploresthe implicit optimism in the restora-tive power of nature that seems tohave been a premise for some Landand Space artists of the 70s. RobertSmithsons ||c| |e||,, for example,proposed the power of nature torestore itself over time if left to itsown cycles of regeneration. Bycontrast, Zittels massive installationalludes to the concept of paradiselost, leaving viewers to ponderhumanitys relationship to the earthand natures potential for renewal.The ethos of personal survival iswrit large in Zittels other majorbody of work presented here, //|n||c|m, which champions tradi-tional womens handcrafts, rangingfrom sewing techniques to knitting,crocheting, and finger felting. Thisseries, which began in 2003 (withan anticipated conclusion in 2013),advocates the artistic prowess ofwomens traditional arts, as mani-fest in a room dazzlingly filled withhandmade clothes. Showcased areappliqu jumpers, knit, crocheted,and felted sweaters, coats, anddresses. With their sophisticationof color, pattern, and form, theseworks convincingly argue for theerasure of distinctions between artand craft. One-of-a-kind garmentsthat easily waltz toe-to-toe withdesigner fashions, they allude tothe seasonal cycle, the importanceof annual celebrations, and to timethat travels beyond the clockingof productivity. Here, the indelibleimpact of individuality is affirmedin the face of industrial replication,confirming craft as art that reachesbeyond mere decoration to definethose things that make life person-ally sacred and rarified.tc||e||e t|c||cco|,c,Above: Andrea Zittel, A-Z PersonalUniforms Fall/Winter 2003Spring/Summer 2013, 200313. Mixed media,installation view. Right: Andrea Zittel,Lay of My Land #1, 2011. Steel,Hydrocal, burlap, sand, stone, andlatex paint, 290.2 x 363.6 x 70.8 in.Previous Page | Contents | Zoom in | Zoom out | Front Cover | Search Issue | Next Pagesculpture qqM MqqM MqMQmags THE WORLDS NEWSSTANDPrevious Page | Contents | Zoom in | Zoom out | Front Cover | Search Issue | Next Pagesculpture qqM MqqM MqMQmags THE WORLDS NEWSSTAND70 Sculpture 31.3BubsoW, Ntw osKLa WilsonJohn Davis GalleryNow in her mid-80s, Ohio-based,primarily self-taught La Wilson haslong made resonant, even trans-gressive-feeling assemblage works.Her signature form is the box, whichshe uses to hold compositions madeup of everyday objects, very muchlike a conventional frame providesa border for a paintings pictorialspace. For years, she has scouredflea markets in search of antiquepacking boxes, the kinds of contain-ers that once held sewing notionsor hardware.Over the years, Wilson has gaineda cult following among fellow artistsworking in collage and assemblage.Because her work is more funky-abstract than literary-romantic, ithas never really sunk into the con-sciousness of viewers whose under-standing of box-assemblage sculp-ture begins and ends with JosephCornell or self- conscious Surrealistprovocation. With Wilsons work, awinking, postmodern sense of ironyabout the appropriated and recon-textualized can fall flat; her cre-ations are surreal, abstract, or po-moonly by accident or by unintentionalaffinity, not by design.In her assemblages, which exudean air of mystery and playfulness,she takes such humble items as pen-cils, dominoes, flat-head nails,embroidery thread, hair clips, type-writer keys, and small hand toolsand, through simple gestures likeslicing them in half or placing themin unusual positions, transforms theircharacter and meaning. In Wilsonshands, a clothespin can becomeas elegant as a diamond brooch or assinister as a dagger. She uses antiquemetal type or letter-press type forms,often stuffing a box full of texture-yielding objects, such as bullet cas-ings, beads, or folding yardsticks.The old wooden boxes becomeintegral elements of each work andoften set the overall tone, fromsubtly subversive to eloquent. In herrecent works, Wilson takes a morepared-down approach, using fewerkinds of elements in her composi-tions. Thus, the ephemeral-feeling||ooe (2010) consists of just a groupof felt piano hammers placed insidea small, shallow box, like the deli-cate, color-streaked shoots of anexotic tropical plant. In |||| ||||(2010), a single, large black die withwhite dots stands on its own littleshelf in a vertically oriented boxwith thick, time-weathered walls;a larger compartment below ispacked full of black-stained uprightsticks. |c|, H|ocm (2010), anopen, hinged box, reveals faded,red-and-yellow letter blocks, a greenfolding ruler, a blue-painted stone,a wooden spool, and rolls of whitestring, each type of object con-tained in a separate compartmentlike oddly gathered items on aschool-cafeteria tray. Each elementevokes a heightened sense ofawareness in its airless, timelesslittle chamber.Wilson has studied Buddhism formany years, and its meditative spiritcan be felt in her work, as can asense of spontaneity. About the oddsand ends that are her raw materials,the mostly reclusive artist told mea few years ago: I just try to find ahome for themThe thing is to goin and find relationships [betweenthem] that I never imagined or heardof or thought about. I just love thatfeeling of them coming together.|ouc|o | 6cmeNtw osKMarisa MerzBarbara Gladstone GalleryMarisa Merz, one of Arte Poverasband of stellar sculptors (and thewidow of Mario Merz, who alsobelonged to the group), looks to theattractions of industrial materials.She has had a long career, her firstsolo show occurring in 1967 atGallery Gian Enzo Sperone in Turin.Merz is recognized for her idiosyn-cratic use of copper wire, clay, andwaxmaterials in keeping withArte Poveras preference for humblesubstances. For this show, she pre-sented two works made with metalsheeting: eo|c, a smallish sculp-ture reminiscent of an armchair,and two painted columns hangingfrom the ceilingboth fromthe larger group |n||||eo (||.|n:o||o|e; (1966), a title that makesa strong identification with the ArtePovera philosophy of connecting artand life. In the unpainted chair,silver sheets, folded innumerabletimes, create form. The twocolumns present painted surfaces;Merzs use of red, green, and yellowbecomes that much more strikingwhen the hues are offset by thesilver of the unpainted metal.Beyond the rough honesty andsimple materials, which are effec-tive in their own right, lies the prob-La Wilson, Holy Wisdom, 2010. Mixedmedia, 13.5 x 19 x 3.25 in. open.COURTESYJOHNDAVISGALLERYPrevious Page | Contents | Zoom in | Zoom out | Front Cover | Search Issue | Next Pagesculpture qqM MqqM MqMQmags THE WORLDS NEWSSTANDPrevious Page | Contents | Zoom in | Zoom out | Front Cover | Search Issue | Next Pagesculpture qqM MqqM MqMQmags THE WORLDS NEWSSTANDSculpture April 2012 71lem of showing work such as Merzsin a prestigious commercial space.The Arte Povera movement wascommitted to a radicalized notionof sculpture. How can such a stancebe reconciled with the concept of acommercial gallery, no matter howsympathetic it may be to the art?Without belaboring the argument,it seems fair to say that the whitecube aestheticizes even art whosehomely use of cheap metal mili-tates against a superficial apprecia-tion. The gap between the artworksand their exhibition space shouldbe acknowledged, for if we remainunaware of the discrepancy, we can-not do justice to art whose impulsehas been guided by life experienceand a radical sense of justice.The two painted columns offer arough-and-tumble beauty that isseductive in its straightforwardness.They are strongly vertical and main-tain a dialogue with each other;the metal pieces hang haphazardlyin open space, so that viewers canmake their way around the entiretyof the work. Merz presents a com-pelling lyricism based on theintegrity of her craft, which acts asan alternative to gimmickryideo-logical or materialof any sort. Theforms articulate an anti-art, an aes-thetic that rejects the slick in favorof an uncouth attractiveness. In onecolumn, a purely silver componentsticks out, while other parts aremessily paintedas if the innateappeal of color were strong enoughto exist on its own (which indeed itdoes). Merzs art shows us that thehumility of industrial materials cansurvive any place of exhibition withreal grace. Even if we dont knowwhere to showor marketthesesculptures, we can appreciate theirawkward attractiveness.|cnc||cn 6ccomcnNtw osKYutaka SoneDavid ZwirnerIsland, the title of Japanese sculp-tor Yutaka Sones recent show,seemed to refer to the remarkable|||||e |cn|c||cn (200709), amarble sculpture of New York Citysmost famous borough. Weighing inat 2.5 tons, but relatively modestin size, the piece offers buildings,piers, bridges, and even the paths ofCentral Park. Not every structureis reproduced, of course, though theamount of detail is mind-bogglingin its accuracy: Sone worked fromphotos and took a few helicopterrides in his quest for specificity.|||||e |cn|c||cn certainly worksas a sculpture and generates inter-esting questions about scale andtruth to circumstances. For exam-ple, why does such close imitationcatch our equally close interest?Sometimes models of realitybecome more interesting than thereality itself, and Sone deftly under-scores the similaritiesas well asthe differencesbetween copy andoriginal. |||||e |cn|c||cn standsout as a work whose verisimilitudereiterates the physical reality ofManhattan, still the center of thearts in America, and reminds usthat our penchant for the duplicate,even if the knockoff is obvious, hasbecome a strong art interest in itsown right. Its exquisite articulationamounts to a tour de force, inwhich information is both accurateand imagined, leaving viewers toconsider for themselves detail andoverall impression.The second gallery housed anenvironment consisting of individualsculptures: marble flowers andtrees, accompanied by sculpted raysof light; several banana trees com-posed of rattan, metal armatures,and paint; and a large travelerspalm tree consisting of rattan andsteel. The marble sculptures wereplaced more or less equidistantlyfrom the trees, which encircled the BOTTOM:DAVIDREGEN/BOTH:

MARISAMERZ,COURTESYGLADSTONEGALLERY,NYLeft: Marisa Merz, Sedia, 1966. Woodand aluminum, 31.5 x 19.75 x 19.75in. Below: Marisa Merz, installationview of Living Sculpture, 2011.Previous Page | Contents | Zoom in | Zoom out | Front Cover | Search Issue | Next Pagesculpture qqM MqqM MqMQmags THE WORLDS NEWSSTANDPrevious Page | Contents | Zoom in | Zoom out | Front Cover | Search Issue | Next Pagesculpture qqM MqqM MqMQmags THE WORLDS NEWSSTAND72 Sculpture 31.3room. Sone, who makes the marblepieces with the help of artisansfrom southern China, appears to bemaking another statement aboutthe relation of the imaginary to thereal. Yet these sculptures are morestylized than |||||e |cn|c||cnforexample, |||| |n |e|ueen |ee|c , (|ee |on|; (2010), which pre-sents a cut tree trunk complete withgrowth rings next to a starburstradiating out toward the viewer.Intensely artificial in its expressive-ness, the piece is also accurateat least in regard to the tree trunk.The effect of the light, of course,is more faux than accurate.With the palm and banana trees,Sone is at pains to be accurate withinreason. In |c|:c| tcmc|||cn|c.e|e| |c|m |c : (2011), fringesof unpainted rattan mimic deadleaves. The work possesses a strongfrontality in its flatness of form,consisting of a triangle on top ofa steel trunk. Like Sones marble|c|||e|c ||cue| (2010), a parasiticplant discovered in the Indonesianrain forest, the accuracy of thepalm tree is more an argument foraesthetic pleasure than scientificknowledge. Still, these worksremain striking as examples of truth-telling, even if they do not aspireto trompe loeil perfection. Sonesobjects, the six banana plantsincluded, remain in the viewers mindbecause they so effortlessly straddlethe line between truth and appear-ances.|cnc||cn 6ccomcnQuttWs, Ntw osKJames O. Clark and ForrestMyersRegina RexWestern, particularly American,artists will never cease in theirquest to find the aesthetic in com-mon objects, to be inventive withfound and discarded materials.James O. Clark and Forrest Myers,whose works recently featured inLuminous Flux, have spent theircareers creating sculptural objectsfrom discarded plastic, metal, andwooden detritus and cast-off tech-nology.Entering a darkened space, viewerswere immersed in an atmosphereof glowing lights and deep sounds.The illumination came fromtwo sources: a transparent pendanthanging by a fiber-optic tube fromthe ceiling in Clarks |e |o|o|e ||cu (2011) and a video projectingan array of primary colors graduallytransitioning through the spectrumin Myerss four short videos (||||e:||cn, ncu, uc |||||cn tc|c|cno |e|| 0c||e, and |e |mce/||e| [19892011]). Myers, who isalso known for his inventive furni-ture designs, installed a couch ofassembled found materials in themiddle of the gallery so that viewerscould watch in comfort.It was no surprise that the showshigh aesthetic was created with thehumblest of means: Clark and Myersboth came of age with Rauschen-bergs combines, and they draw onthe 80s aesthetic of repurposingsalvaged materials, giving themanother life. Delving into his uncannylaboratory of wonders, Clark used atransparent plastic bag for his sus-pended sculpture, tied it in a knot,and filled it with water. Stretchedby the weight of the water and illu-minated by the refracted light, thisplastic junk sculpture transformsinto a precious object.Myers relies on flat-screen tech-nology, showing constellations ofrectangles reminiscent of test pat-terns on TV screens as they shift inslow gradation from the coolest tothe warmest hue of each primarycolor. His couch serves as a linkbetween technology and DIY skill. Itlooks like the last thing one mightwant to sit onold metal springsjammed carelessly together withapparent randomness stick out as ifto threaten skirts and trousersyetit offered surprisingly comfortableseating. In the juxtaposition ofcouch and screen, Myers makes aninteresting comment on the stereo-typical American living room, witha wink to his early influencesjazzand Calder.Clark and Myers continue to testthe boundaries of high- and low-tech, bringing the ever-inventiveminds of fixers, handymen, andmasters of all trades into the realmof art. They use recycled and dis-carded materials whenever possibleand give them a second life in orderAbove: Yukata Sone, installation view of Island, 2011. Below: Yukata Sone,Little Manhattan, 200709. Marble, 21.75 x 104.375 x 33.5 in.COURTESYDAVIDZWIRNER,NYPrevious Page | Contents | Zoom in | Zoom out | Front Cover | Search Issue | Next Pagesculpture qqM MqqM MqMQmags THE WORLDS NEWSSTANDPrevious Page | Contents | Zoom in | Zoom out | Front Cover | Search Issue | Next Pagesculpture qqM MqqM MqMQmags THE WORLDS NEWSSTANDSculpture April 2012 73to challenge mainstream and tech-nology-dependent art production.Their work demonstrates that thereis still a place for quiet, thoughtful,artistic understatement. Clark andMyers seduce us through an aes-thetic that shows a level of refine-ment and execution consistent withartists who have spent a lifetimeperfecting their craft.'o||c |||cnc.c01t cA, Ntw osKJongsun LeeSculpture SpaceDuring her two-month residency atSculpture Space, Jongsun Lee, aperipatetic artist and social sculp-tor, produced thousands of hand-shaped rice bowls in the studio byday and presented several interac-tive performances off site in theevening. After achieving commercialsuccess as a traditional figure sculp-tor, she renounced her materialachievements for a less predictablelife on the road as a visual poetarole that acknowledges her yearsof hardship as a child in South Korea.Oscillating between attraction andrepulsion, between traditional Asianmotifs and Western themes, Leeswork incorporates sculpture, perfor-mance, sound, and collaboration.|nc|, |n|nc|, /no /c|n |c|, aperformance/installation, was heldin a former hardware store, now avast open space of bare wood beamsand polished oak floors, with asmall bar and restaurant tucked toone side. Between the toweringsupport beams, Lee arranged 18 lowcircular tables piled with hundredsof rice bowls grouped according toshape and hue. The palm-sizedbowls, face up for filling, emanateda rough but luminous surface.The petite artist, dressed in a sunnyyellow dress with a scalloped hem,rested supine on the floor with herhead concealed under the largest,most central table. Rising mechani-cally, her slim figure came to lifeand began to skip, lope, and shufflebarefoot toward and away from alarge man playing a saxophone.Urgent sounds and gestures fromthe artist and aggressive notes fromthe sax sounded a dialogue aroundthe empty bowls. Striding, Leebegan to weave in and out of thecrowd. Was she in control or lost?Craning to see over the heads of theafter-work crowd of smartly dressedyoung professionals, a new stagewas revealed on the screens ofphoto-snapping smart phones, ubiq-uitous in the audience. Takingadvantage of the live video stream-ing on the phones, one could followthe artists path as flashes of yellowdress began to weave a virtual pathfrom phone to phone, punctuatedby glimpses of her physical body.The 15-minute performance evokedanxiety and bewilderment and finallyLeft: Installation view of LuminousFlux, with (left to right) ForrestMyers, Split Decision, 2011, computerprogram on LED, 4.5 min.; ForrestMyers, Couch Potato, 2011, steelspring wire; and Jim Clark, The Futureis Now, 2011, water, polyethene plas-tic, acrylic, and fiber optics. Below:Jongsun Lee, Knot, Unknot, And AgainNot, 2011. Performance.Previous Page | Contents | Zoom in | Zoom out | Front Cover | Search Issue | Next Pagesculpture qqM MqqM MqMQmags THE WORLDS NEWSSTANDPrevious Page | Contents | Zoom in | Zoom out | Front Cover | Search Issue | Next Pagesculpture qqM MqqM MqMQmags THE WORLDS NEWSSTAND74 Sculpture 31.3RIGHT:BARRYB.DOYLE/BOTH:COURTESYTHEARTISTprompted contemplation of how torespond as a witness to a brave act.Lee sees her performance as bring-ing the viewer a little closer tothe ambivalent heart of humanitysinexorable social drama.Lees studio is in New York City,but international residencies fuelher minimal and improvisationalstyle. She responds to the socialcontext of each new place, and inUtica, she worked with sax playerand growling singer Michael Patreiand his band, The Swordfish Trom-bones, whom she met at a localcoffee house open mic night. Hersecond Utica performance, tc|:|,was choreographed with SculptureSpace studio manager, ScottHartmann, who performed the ritualfilling and spilling of a yellowmetal bucket of rice hanging froman overhead beam 25 feet abovethe ground. At the end, the audiencegathered in lines as Lee handed outsmall bags of ricea mementofor us, but also a gesture that manyaround the world would considerlife-sustaining.6|nc |o||c|MAsrA, 1tXAsBettina LandgrebeChinati Foundation3ec|en u||| c |cmme|, a multimediainstallation by Bettina Landgrebe,offered a poignant and powerfulelegy for the nearly 1,000 womenwho have been brutally tortured andmurdered in the borderlands aroundJurez, Mexico, since 1993. Part ofthe Chinati Foundations Open HouseWeekend, the installation appearedat the unlikely venue of Big BendCoffee Roasters.Consisting of 576 white plaster-likemodels of human hearts, 476of which were suspended from theceiling by thin red filaments, 3ec|enu||| c |cmme| formed a cloud-likeshape whose individual elementsonly became recognizable on closeinspection. A womans name, age,year of death, and cause of deathwere hand-printed in red paint oneach heart. The voice of readerAmira de la Garza quietly filled theroom with a somber, almost musi-cal recitation of the disturbingfacts: Carmen Patricia RamirezSanchez, 34, 2005, Shot to Death.Tomasa Chavarria Rangel, 54, 2005,Beaten with a Hammer. MariaEugenia Mendoza Arias, 28, 1998,Strangled, Sex Murder, HeadWound...Landgrebe, who is the lead con-servator at the Chinati Foundation,heard about the murders whenshe first visited Marfa in 1995. Thesenseless brutality of the crimescontinued to haunt her. In 2007, shecame across |e |||||n ||e|o, DianaWashington Valdezs book about themurders, and the idea for the instal-lation began to materialize. Ninety-nine percent of the murders areunsolved. Landgrebe is deeply dis-turbed by the fact that the perpe-trators know that they can getaway with it, that there will be noconsequences. She says, Womenof all ages are raped and murdered,including infants and women intheir 80s. Any and every woman canbe targeted.Although the subject is grim, theinstallation was visually light, ghost-like, and ethereal. Landgrebewanted it to be beautiful, for thosewomen. Over the last two years,after work and on weekends, shemade the 576 cast hearts. The 476inscribed hearts represent womenwho were murdered between 1993and 2006 and whose identities areknown. Landgrebe says that thename is important. Its who we are,our identity, our relation to our fam-ily and our friends. In the installa-tion, 100 hearts remained blank.Arranged in a circle on the floor, theyrepresented those women whohave not been identified or whoseremains have not been found.The degree of violence inflicted onthese women exceeds what was typi-cal of sex crimes in Mexico before1993; some sociologists believe it tobe a symptom of the societal dys-function caused by powerful drugdealers and their cohorts, which nowpervades every aspect of the borderculture. As viewers turned from theconstellation of hearts to head outthe door, they faced south, where, asLandgrebe says, just across the river,you can see Jurez, where womenface a daily struggle to live, work,and fight for existence.|c|||c |o|eBettina Landgrebe, Beaten with a Hammer, 2011. Cellulose-based plaster-like material, red archival felt-tip pen, and red filament, 3.25 x 3.25 x 4.5 in.Previous Page | Contents | Zoom in | Zoom out | Front Cover | Search Issue | Next Pagesculpture qqM MqqM MqMQmags THE WORLDS NEWSSTANDPrevious Page | Contents | Zoom in | Zoom out | Front Cover | Search Issue | Next Pagesculpture qqM MqqM MqMQmags THE WORLDS NEWSSTANDSculpture April 2012 75011AwAJinny YuPatrick Mikhail GalleryNominally a painter, Jinny Yuexplored materiality in her Latestfrom New York exhibition, whichincluded sculpted aluminum and oilpieces. She sees herself at the inter-stices of identityof Korean birth,living in Ottawa, practicing in NewYork, Italy, Montreal, and elsewhere.Her work also operates in liminali-tiesbetween installation, sculp-ture, painting, gesture, and illusion.The seven works in the show markconversations across these interme-diate states, and while they make arthistorical references, they maintaina safe distance from the specificobjects of the past. Yus intermedia-tions can be taken at face value nowthat the confines of Modernist mediacategories have been thoroughlyundone.|c|n||n, H|eo, cn Hc|| (2011) isan installation framed by ivory-blackpigment. The reflective aluminumsquare is felt as a presence and as avoid when contrasted by the paintthe scale, painterly textures, and site-specificity evoke Lawrence Weiners/ ,o \ ,o |||0//| 0 || |/|||60| |||0| H/|| 0| ||/||0| H/||30/|| ||0| / H/|| (1968).Many of Yus works play with thenotion of what is optically close,but physically distant, and in thisinstance, the aluminum squareon the wall seems sunken within it.The rumpled forms of ||e:c||co(2011) stumble into space while graz-ing wall and floorwith this sculpt-ed physicality, the thin, abstract, ver-tical marks read as a trompe loeil fin-ish, suggesting the directional grainof brushed stainless steel. Yusmarks suggest industrial applicationsof oil for the protection and finish ofmetals. The folds of this piece reveala uniform, white backa ready-made artifact of her industrial sup-port that reads more as paintedthan the shimmering front. t|om|eo(2011), a small piece, features thesculpted forms of this white field. Thewall-hung 3en| (2011) accomplishesa similar dialogue between materialand illusion, but here, Yus marksseems more organic and intentionalstill, her purposeful gestures bringfull circle the accidental AbstractExpressionist drips and other pat-terns on Donald Judds galvanizedboxes. Yus metallic sheen addsanother layer of complexitythe col-ors of reflected light sometimes havephysical presence, they seem to beof the work and far more concretethan their condition as situationalphenomena. The rumpled, floor-to-ceiling ||c|e (2011) also possessesthis effect, the long thin metal in dia-logue with Roy Lichtensteins brush-stroke paintings from the mid-1960sas well as Matthew Ritchies cutmetal pieces from recent years.The piece with the greatest pres-ence in this exhibition was a wall-sized work (with a nod to RichardSerra) consisting of black oil paintapplied to a thin aluminum support.|c|n||n (2011) is a conceptual title,a label of emphasis or priority fora work that is self- evidently paintedbut that has an unconventional,almost immaterial ground. Most pro-nounced here, but true of all Yusworks, her systematic touch-markscreate a different kind of modeling,one in which any illusionistic spacesseem consequential, sculpted bythe materiality of paint and the opti-cally engaged empty spaces.H||||cm / 6cn|8tstt WWilhelm MundtBuchmann GalerieWilhelm Mundts boulder-shapedsculptures are immediate, yet theyseem to be all about process andduration. They are also physicallyRight: Jinny Yu, (left) Stroke, 2011, oilon aluminum, 138 x 24 in.; (right)Bent, 2011, oil on aluminum, 24 x17.5 in. Below: Jinny Yu, Precarious,2011. Oil on aluminum, 57 x 24 in.ANDREACAMPBELL,COURTESYPATRICKMIKHAILGALLERYANDTHEARTISTPrevious Page | Contents | Zoom in | Zoom out | Front Cover | Search Issue | Next Pagesculpture qqM MqqM MqMQmags THE WORLDS NEWSSTANDPrevious Page | Contents | Zoom in | Zoom out | Front Cover | Search Issue | Next Pagesculpture qqM MqqM MqMQmags THE WORLDS NEWSSTAND76 Sculpture 31.3TOP:COURTESYBUCHMANNGALERIE,BERLIN/BOTTOM:SIMASAYAG:COURTESYTHEISRAELMUSEUM,JERUSALEMpolished and perfect. Mundt hasbeen making these brightly coloredTrashstones, as he calls them,since 1989. A stone in an intenseshade of yellow bears the number493, testament to the artists stick-to-it-iveness and inveterate fascina-tion with packed, covered, painted,and polished detritus.Though they seem of anotherworld, as if tumbled down from thecosmos to cool in our mortal realm,there is an array of familiar stuffinside these craggy forms: garbage,studio debris, found objects, andpersonal information, all of whichgets sealed within the rumpling sur-face skin of the rock. Mundt bundlesmotley collections of objects, thencovers them with a fabric made outof glass fiber. He treats the surfacewith polyester gel and hardeners,then repeatedly sands and smoothesit, leaving the result to dry for manyhours. Once dried, he sands it againand then waxes it, creating a toplayer that is somewhere between anoozing plastic topography and thehood of a Corvette. Weatherproofedby the glossy resin surface, a Trash-stone might sit outside in a wide,open field, the lunar figure to a pla-nar ground.Mundts Trashstones are some-thing like time capsules, except thattheir hard carapaces will never becracked, and memories of the pastwill remain entombed inside therock in perpetuity. A row of them sit-ting on the floor of the gallery mightsuggest colorful space junk. Here,a green Trashstone the size of asmall car was followed by an orange,then a yellow, a black, a white, anda small blue one, all aligned belowa black and white photograph of ameteor. The autobiographicalcomponent did not get lost in theextraterrestrial feel of this installa-tion; instead, it expanded tobecome meme-like. Mundt is every-man: his garbage is our garbage,the worlds garbage. The shift fromuseful to useless parallels the shiftfrom personal to impersonal. Scrap-paper notes with ideas, materials,and measurements give shapeto the formless Trashstone Inside,forgotten, no longer central to themaking of the object, their usediminishes. They are silt-like rem-nantsthe embalmed memoriesof the things makingor less poeti-cally, they are refuse dumped inlandfills, giving form to an artificialtopography that is reshaping theplanet.Mundts Trashstones are rare intheir keen juxtaposition of high andlow: they maintain an intellectualsophistication while also being sim-ply mesmerizing, beautiful, and fun.The power of a Trashstone lies inits statement and presence, both ofwhich are ecological in nature.t|c||c e||cnc.cj tsusAttMMicha UllmanThe Israel MuseumThis impressive retrospective broughttogether 40 of Micha Ullmanssculptures selected from differentperiods in his 50-year career. It alsofeatured works on paper, as well asdocumentation of his many site-specific works, including ||||c|,, theunderground cell with empty shelvesthat he dug out in Berlins Bebel-platz, the site of the 1933 Nazi bookburning. Like its sister-piece |o|nc\,on the grounds of the IsraelMuseum, ||||c|, offers continuallyfluctuating viewpoints, set in motionby its shifting cosmic elements,shadows, and reflections.Human-scale, floor-bound objectsin Minimalist geometric shapes andworks featuring only sand dominatedthe exhibition. The objects consistedof rusted iron plates, angled sothat layers of red sand covering theirupper surfaces were just held incheck. The juxtaposition of these dis-sonant materials, one hard andcold, the other soft and elusive, andthe tension between them, maybe viewed as indicative of Ullmansattitude toward the world beyondart, that dialogue and give-and-takeare possible between people havingdifferent or conflicting views.These constructions, arranged indescending order of size, formed asingle work based on the archetypalimage of a house. ||on|||, a sta-ble form, was followed by |c,, anupside-down house, both from 1988.Fragmented pieces of furniturecame next, some half-buried in thefloor, giving the ambivalent impres-sion of either a sinking building or astructure rising from ruins. Castingones mind back to recent ecologicaldisasters, this scenario assumeda certain topicality.||c:e, a video from 1975 docu-menting a performance by Ullman,Left: Wilhelm Mundt, installationview of From Trash to Treasure,2011. Below: Micha Ullman, Map,2002. Iron and red sand, table: 110x 78 x 85 cm., chair: 45 x 45 x 85 cm.Previous Page | Contents | Zoom in | Zoom out | Front Cover | Search Issue | Next Pagesculpture qqM MqqM MqMQmags THE WORLDS NEWSSTANDPrevious Page | Contents | Zoom in | Zoom out | Front Cover | Search Issue | Next Pagesculpture qqM MqqM MqMQmags THE WORLDS NEWSSTANDSculpture April 2012 77TOP:AVRAHAMHAI,COURTESYDORONSEBBAGARTCOLLECTION,ORSLTD./BOTTOM:COURTESYTHEARTISTANDLISSONGALLERYthen a young lecturer at JerusalemsBezalel Academy, attests to his earlyfascination with sand. It shows him,brush in hand, sweeping particlesinto hills and depressionsa ges-tural activity directly associated withthe sand tables that he would pro-duce 20 years later.The other prominent feature of thisshow, the tables mostly take theform of raised containers filled withlayers of red sand, their surfacesmarked with ridges, paths, and pits.In one case, the markings resemblethe negative imprint of a fish, inothers, eating utensils. In |ctheHebrew word means a tableclothas well as a land mapa chair wasdrawn up to a table where fourholes for glasses had been cut intothe sand. The imagery seemedto allude to domestic life, but also,perhaps, to political discourse arounda table.Ullmans distinctive sand-throwingtechnique reached new heightswith Heoo|n, an installation thathe created only days before theopening, when 100 guests, volunteerart students, were invited to attenda pseudo-wedding ceremony. Oncethey were seated, Ullman threwclouds of red sand across the floor.The space was then vacatedwith minimum disturbance. Whatremained was a carpet of sandsmeared with footprints and marksof furnitureand, in the area wherethe wedding canopy had been raised,shards of the glass traditionally bro-ken at Jewish weddings. The resultwas a huge, abstract painting con-taining memory traces of this event,but with other scary connotations./ne|c |e.|neloWboWShirazeh HoushiaryLisson GalleryShirazeh Houshiarys No BoundaryCondition presented itself as anexhibition of paradoxespaintingsthat felt three-dimensional, man-made objects that felt organic,chaotic sculptural compositions thatsomehow seemed simple. Workssuch as |c:onc (2011) created afeeling not unlike an erupting storm,multiple spiraling forms crashinginto one another, tumulus formsreminiscent of conflicting turbulentairflows. Yet, despite this turbulence,the piece gave off an odd senseof calm. The curvature of the caststainless steel followed an organicflow and, in combination with thedominant matte-green color, evokedthe feeling of standing in a meadowwith a gentle breeze.The two floor pieces ||e|:| (2011)and ec| (2011) created their owncontradictory environment, but ina very different way. Their elegant,flowing forms consisted of a largenumber of small, anodized aluminumcuboids. Positioned diagonallyopposite each other, the two worksfelt connected but still distinctlyseparate, the warm magenta of||e|:| twinkling under the lights incontrast to the duller blue of ec|.Despite their construction from suchsimple building blocks, both worksresolved into complex, sinuouslycontoured organic figures, the con-vex shape of ||e|:| suggesting afeminine form, complimented andopposed by the more masculineec|. Though linked, the pair weredistinctly different, separate.Houshiary manages to moderatebetween these opposing forces, cre-ating beauty from banality, harmonyout of discord, and balance frominstability.The five-meter-high |||n o|n|e|,presented in the garden area, wasby far the most impressive piece ofthe exhibition. Intertwining stringsof polished stainless steel spiraledskywards, drawing the viewers gazewith them. Again, Houshiary pre-sented a fantastic contradictionthe flowing metallic forms feelingmore organic than industrial.Floating into the sky, delicate, frag-ile, and ephemeral, they seemedalmost weightless.Like the elements of |c:onc, |||no|n|e|s intertwining formsseemed to visualize a turbulent air-flow, a chaotic swirl like a powerfultornadothe imagery emphasizedby strong spotlights illuminatingthe work from below as darkness fellaround it. The calm of early eveningfurther accentuated the inherentcontradictions: calm born of chaos,simplicity born of complicated inter-relations, and organic beauty bornof industrial materials and processes.Therein lies the greatest contra-diction of Houshiarys work. Despitethe complexity and disorder, thereis an elegance, beauty, and tranquilitythat leaves the viewer in a calmLeft: Micha Ullman, Wedding (detail),2011. Sand-throwing installation.Below: Shirazeh Houshiary, Lacuna(Wall Piece), 2011. Cast stainlesssteel, 80 x 220 x 80 cm.Previous Page | Contents | Zoom in | Zoom out | Front Cover | Search Issue | Next Pagesculpture qqM MqqM MqMQmags THE WORLDS NEWSSTANDPrevious Page | Contents | Zoom in | Zoom out | Front Cover | Search Issue | Next Pagesculpture qqM MqqM MqMQmags THE WORLDS NEWSSTAND78 Sculpture 31.3LEFT:COURTESYTHEARTISTANDLISSONGALLERYstate of awe rather than confusion.There is a clear beautyan organic,minimalistic aestheticwithin theseworks, but also a fantastic depth, asense of intrigue, and perhaps evenwonder. These paradoxical worksprove themselves not only a feastfor the eyes but a surprisinglyrewarding experience for the soulas well.|c|n |co||eoeSAW1t Aso AWb 8utWosAt stsSofia DonovanStuart Contemporary and FedericoTowpyha Arte ContemporaneoSofia Donovan, a multifaceted youngArgentine-born artist living in Chile,works in photography, video, painting,and sculpture. In her recent work,she has developed an interesting playbetween form and content, usingceramic to create amazing sculpturesthat carry a powerful physical pres-ence. Donovans works investigate thehuman body and its representation.Over the last couple of years, hersearch has emphasized the mediatedbody in its daily environment. A goodexample, according to the artist, isthe bodys role in medicine. Donovanquestions whether the body still func-tions as a vehicle for experience andrelations with other people or if it hasbeen reduced to a mere object.Over the last two years, Donovansroad has led her to imposing bio-morphic glazed ceramic sculpturesthat highlight the constant tensionbetween the anthropomorphic andmetaphorical worlds generatedby the bodys formal and materialaspects. These works set up aninteresting dialogue. Bodily shapesand textures interact with materialstotally strange to the body itself,creating moments of doubt andambiguitya fundamental conceptin Donovans workthat suggest orinsinuate intimate queries. Nothingis obvious; the viewers fantasyand intellect construct the sense,and even form, of these works.Most people see organs or phallicforms, but the sexuality is morenuanced, with suggestive curves, insand outs, concave and convex, femi-nine and masculine, and full andempty pairings. Most of this effect iscaused by the addition of unexpectedmaterials into the ceramic universe;we must dig into the details tounderstand the whole story. Indus-trial materials come in and out, play-ing alter ego to the natural clay.Donovans artifice generates a sym-bolic structure that surrounds every-thing and gives the work anotherdimension. The interaction of oppo-site forces is a constant in her work,creating an atmosphere that seducesthe mind. With a nod to Carl Jung,Donovan says, Im deeply concernedabout these pieces as objects ofseduction, I want them to questionan unknown area in the relationshipof biology and technique, to [probe]through the human body to regionsless common, awakening sensitiveexperiences full of humor and sym-bolic content in the spectator.Contemporary art cries out foran audience with an educated eye,demanding intellectual activity.Defying all limits of good taste ordecorum and incorporating newthemes, materials, forms, and tech-niques, it creates infinite ways forthe viewer to learn. And when theproposal not only introduces newand revolutionary ideas, but alsoarouses passions and emotions, arttrespasses the boundaries of beautyand contemplation to become chal-lenge. Donovans sculptures gener-ate an immediate attraction orrepulsion, many times because ofLeft: Shirazeh Houshiary, Tear, 2011.Anodized aluminum, 123.5 x 37 x69 cm. Right: Sofia Donovan, StickyTrap, 2011. Ceramic, 28 x 32 x 47 cm.Below: Sofia Donovan, De Los Pelos,2011. Ceramic and copper wire, 48x 63 x 20 cm.Previous Page | Contents | Zoom in | Zoom out | Front Cover | Search Issue | Next Pagesculpture qqM MqqM MqMQmags THE WORLDS NEWSSTANDPrevious Page | Contents | Zoom in | Zoom out | Front Cover | Search Issue | Next Pagesculpture qqM MqqM MqMQmags THE WORLDS NEWSSTANDSculpture April 2012 79TOP:COURTESYTHEARTISTANDTANYABONAKDARGALLERY,NY/BOTTOM:GEORGER.WALDRENIV,COURTESYTHEARTIST,HAUSER&WIRTH,ANDARTHONGKONGthe erotic feelings they may trigger.Yet the sculptures suggest morethan they reveal. Our subjective fan-tasies are responsible for makingDonovans insinuations stand out ina concrete way. Color, form, size,and texture all cooperate to createan immediate reference to thehuman body, but even that idea isproduced in the mind of the specta-tor. The most important key lies inthe irrational responseprofoundlyvisceral and intimateof the view-ers body, which allows the mind toenjoy what the senses capture.|c||c tc|c||nc 3co|cBoWs koWsArt Hong Kong 11Hong Kong Convention andExhibition CentreIf there was one word to describe thefourth edition of Art Hong Kong (alsoknown as Art HK 11), it would bebuzzing. The hum of the Hong KongConvention and Exhibition Centrein Wan Chai could practically be feltnext door at the Grand Hyattand down into the subway tunnels.Nearly 64,000 visitors came fromacross the globe to discover thenewest offerings from 260 contempo-rary galleries hailing from 38 coun-tries. Sculpture played a unique rolein shaping the landscape of Art HongKong by acting as congregationposts (Takashi Murakamis oe|||c|||cue|, recently shown in the hallsof Versailles) and geographic markers(Jeff Koonss brightly striped collabo-ration with BMW at the center ofthe main hall). Some of the mostrespected and recognizable namesin the realm of contemporary artsupplied the sculptural highlights ofArt HK 11.The entrance to the fair was difficultto miss with Paul McCarthys three-story |coo|e cmc|c |e|:|o |n||c|c||e, presented by London/Zrich-based Hauser & Wirth. With tongue-in-cheek details including gold labelsat the neck and body, the cartoonboldness of this mammoth bottlekeenly reminded viewers of its absur-dity as a valuable object. The condi-ment itself recalls McCarthys earlierpractice as a performance artist.Olafur Eliassons 'co| |o|c| .|eu(2011), a sculpture resembling asolar-paneled telescope, refractedshards of light throughout theTanya Bonakdar Gallery booth. TheIcelandic artists most recent mani-festation of optical phenomena con-sisted of three conjoined geometricelements, mirrored on the inside,then mounted on an iron stand. Thebooth also featured studies and wall-mounted spectrums, along withtwo hanging, hexagonal, colored-glass mobiles that radiated vividshades of pinks, blues, and yellows.Cheim & Read presented threesculptures by Lynda Benglis thatwere among the most visually impos-ing and compelling sights of the fair.t||:cc tc|,c||o, eme| (|o||e|;,and ||.e| H|c||| warped the legaciesof ancient, patriarchal mythologiesinto hardened surfaces of stainlesssteel and gold leaf, tempered by soft,flowing movements. The galleryjuxtaposed Bengliss heroic sculptureon the exterior of its space with thepiercing, intimate dreams of LouiseBourgeois tucked inside the booth.Outside the convention center,Zhang Huans ||ee |eco |\ /|mstood roughly 26 feet high andalmost 60 feet wide. Weighing 15tons, his re-imagined Chinesemythological figure incorporates ele-ments of Tibetan Buddhist statues.The three-headed (one traditional,one a portrait, and one a self-por-trait) copper leviathan stretched outits elongated limbs across the 1881Heritage Grand Piazza (the originalsite of the Hong Kong Marine Police)in Kowloon. Commissioned by localdealer Edouard Malingue, Huancited a recent trip to China as inspi-ration for the work, which is aboutresurrecting the spirit and meta-phorically reversing destruction ofBuddhist sculptures on the main-land.Art Hong Kong was recentlyacquired by the MCH Group (thecompany that produces both ArtBasel and Art Basel Miami Beach),so perhaps the best is still to comefor this young contemporary fairthat has earned its place on theglobal contemporary arts calendar.|cnc 3e|| |ccnAbove: Olafur Eliasson, Your pluralview, 2011. Mirror, stainless steel,and aluminum, 182 x 188 x 208cm. Right: Paul McCarthy, DaddiesTomato Ketchup Inflatable, 2007.Inflatable sculpture. Both works fromArt Hong Kong 11.Previous Page | Contents | Zoom in | Zoom out | Front Cover | Search Issue | Next Pagesculpture qqM MqqM MqMQmags THE WORLDS NEWSSTANDPrevious Page | Contents | Zoom in | Zoom out | Front Cover | Search Issue | Next Pagesculpture qqM MqqM MqMQmags THE WORLDS NEWSSTAND80 Sculpture 31.3/c| ,:, |c , C .o:. :o||o|e (|| o33),.3\; | o||||eo mcn|||,, e\:e| |e||oc|, cno /oo|, |, ||e |n|e|nc||cnc| :o||o|e ten|e| |o||c||c| c|||:e :o,, tcnne:||:o| /.e |H, !|| ||cc|, Hc||n|cn, |t.ooo) |t |em|e||| cno o|:||||cn c|||:e :) |c|||cono |o, o||e 3, |cm|||cn, || o3o:), |/ e| oo)o3):o,: |c\ oo)o3):oo: |mc|| |:_:o||o|ec| /nnoc| mem|e||| ooe c|e | ,:oo,o|:||||cn cn|,, | ,,, (|c| o|:||||cn c| mem|e||| co||oe ||e |, tcncoc, cno |e\|:c coo | ,.o, |n:|ooe c||mc|| oe||.e|,; |e|m||cn | |eo||eo |c| cn, |e|coo:||cn :o||o|e | nc| |ecn|||e |c| onc||:||eo mc|e||c| ||ece eno cn /| u||| mc|e||c| |eo|||n |e|o|n 0|n|cn e\|eeo cno .c||o||, c| |n|c|mc||cn |e|e|n c|e ||e |ecn||||||, c| ||e co||c|, nc| ||e |t /o.e||||n |n :o||o|e| nc| cn |no|:c||cn c| enoc|emen| |, ||e |t, cno ||e |t o|:|c|m ||c|||||, |c| cn, :|c|m mcoe |, co.e|||e| cno |c| |mce |e|coo:eo |, co.e|||e| |e||co|:c| c|ce c|o c| Hc||n|cn, |t, cno coo|||cnc| mc|||n c|||:e |c|mc|e| eno :|cne c| coo|e |c |n|e|nc||cnc| :o||o|e ten|e|, :) |c|||cono |o, o||e 3, |cm|||cn, || o3o:), |/ | neu|cno o|||||o||cn |, t|6, |n:, .,o H ,,||||ee|, |eu 'c||, |' :oo:), |/ e| 3oo!,,!3oo |c\ 3,3o,,,.,,isc PEOPLE, PLACES, AND EVENTSOn October 15, 2011, the recipients of the 2011 Outstanding StudentAchievement in Contemporary Sculpture Awards attended an awardpresentation and exhibition opening at Grounds For Sculpture (GFS)in Hamilton, New Jersey. Johannah Hutchison, Executive Directorof the ISC, introduced the winners of the competition with accoladesfor their accomplishment and praise for their commitment to thefield of contemporary sculpture. Her remarks ended with the presen-tation of award certificates and a cocktail reception in the DomesticArts Building at GFS, where the winning student work was exhibit-ed. This year, the show will also travel to Chicago.The 2011 student awards competition was a great success,with participation from 190 schools, which nominated a total of485 students. Nominees hailed from numerous U.S. and interna-tional institutions, including schools in Portugal, Romania,Pakistan, Canada, Israel, Australia, the United Kingdom, Ireland,Finland, South Africa, and the Netherlands. From this pool of tal-ented nominees, jurors DeWitt Godfrey, artist, educator, and Chairof Fine Arts at Colgate University; Brooke Kamin Rapaport, inde-pendent curator and writer; and John Lash, artist and CEO of theDigital Atelier, selected 15 winners and 14 honorable mentionrecipients.Award recipients receive numerousbenefits, including participation in theFall/Winter exhibition at GFS; publicationof their work in Sculpture magazine andon <www.sculpture.org>; a chance to wina residency in Switzerland to study withworld-renowned sculptor HeinzAeschlimann; a one-year ISC membership,including a subscription to Sculpturemagazine; an opportunity to participate inthe traveling Outstanding StudentAchievement in Contemporary SculptureAwards exhibition, hosted by esteemed artorganizations; and an award cer-tificate and recognition letter fromthe ISC, signed by the ExecutiveDirector and Chair of the ISC Boardof Trustees.Established in 1994, the Out-standing Student Achievementin Contemporary Sculpture Awardwas created to recognize youngsculptors and encourage their con-tinued commitment to the field ofsculpture. Through this initiative,the ISC hopes to encourage use ofits many resources to assist students and faculty with their pro-fessional development. The program also spotlights participatinguniversities, colleges, and art schools and their undergraduateand graduate sculpture programs.For more details about the 2011 Outstanding Student Achieve-ment in Contemporary Sculpture Awards or to find out aboutthe 2012 competition, visit <www.sculpture.org>, e-mail<studentawards@sculpture.org>, or call 609.689.1051, x305.13THE I SC 2011 OUTSTANDI NG STUDENT ACHI EVEMENT AWARDS41Recipients of the 2011 Outstanding StudentAchievement in Contemporary Sculpture Award: RyanAragon, Dustin Boise, Derek Bourcier, Jason Carey-Sheppard, Leah Gadd, Gayle Janzow, Trevor Lalaguna,Camila Nagata, Oscar Peters, David Platter, TrudyRogers-Denham, Tom Schram, Jeremy Smith, BrittanyWatkins, Zane Wilcox.2Ryan Aragon and his awardwinning Phonesynthesis II.3Student Award Showopening guests view David Platters Charting the Self.4Student Award Show opening attendees.2Previous Page | Contents | Zoom in | Zoom out | Front Cover | Search Issue | Next Pagesculpture qqM MqqM MqMQmags THE WORLDS NEWSSTANDPrevious Page | Contents | Zoom in | Zoom out | Front Cover | Search Issue | Next Pagesculpture qqM MqqM MqMQmags THE WORLDS NEWSSTAND__________________________Previous Page | Contents | Zoom in | Zoom out | Front Cover | Search Issue | Next Pagesculpture qqM MqqM MqMQmags THE WORLDS NEWSSTANDPrevious Page | Contents | Zoom in | Zoom out | Front Cover | Search Issue | Next Pagesculpture qqM MqqM MqMQmags THE WORLDS NEWSSTAND___________________________ ____________________Previous Page | Contents | Zoom in | Zoom out | Front Cover | Search Issue | Next Pagesculpture qqM MqqM MqMQmags THE WORLDS NEWSSTANDPrevious Page | Contents | Zoom in | Zoom out | Front Cover | Search Issue | Next Pagesculpture qqM MqqM MqMQmags THE WORLDS NEWSSTAND_______________________________________________________